By Sharif Amiri
The Afghan Ministry of Defense on Thursday welcomed the United States decision to list Pakistan among the nations and regions providing "safe havens" to terrorists.
The Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said Afghanistan wants terrorists’ safe havens eliminated in Pakistan.
“Pakistan must be pressurized in order to fight against terrorism and oust them (terrorists) from that country,” Radmanish stated.
On Wednesday, the United States Department of State listed Pakistan among the nations and regions providing "safe havens" to terrorists, saying terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed continue to operate, train, organise and fundraise inside the country in 2016.
In its annual 'Country Report on Terrorism', as mandated by the Congress, the U.S. State Department said that Pakistani military and security forces undertook operations against groups that conducted attacks within Pakistan such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
"Pakistan did not take substantial action against the Afghan Taliban or Haqqani, or substantially limit their ability to threaten U.S. interests in Afghanistan, although Pakistan supported efforts to bring both groups into an Afghan-led peace process," the State Department said.
"Pakistan did not take sufficient action against other externally focused groups, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in 2016, which continued to operate, train, organize, and fundraise in Pakistan," the report said.
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