The US said Friday that it has no confirmation on Pakistan’s banning of Hafiz Saeed-led Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), and the Haqqani Network, even as it recognised that the country was reassessing its measures to root out extremism in the country.
When asked about the alleged ban on the two terror outfits, State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters in Washington, “We recognise that Pakistan is working through the process of implementing measures to thwart violent extremism, including the National Action Plan. We don’t have any confirmation of specific steps.”
In light of international pressure to outlaw the terror groups JuD and the Haqqani Network, the government included both groups in the list of proscribed outfits and froze their assets on Thursday, a move seen as a significant step in the execution of the National Action Plan formulated to curb radicalism.
Speaking on the government’s ban on the terror outfits, Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam had said, “Pakistan took this decision under the UN obligation and not under pressure from any other quarter including John Kerry (US Secretary of State).”
“We support this commitment and believe that it is fundamental to addressing terrorism and ensuring attacks such as the horrific one that happened just weeks ago that impacted the Peshawar school children never occur again,” Psaki told reporters.
“The Pakistani government has made clear in both private conversations and public statements that it is in Pakistan’s own interest to take steps against all militant groups in Pakistan, and explicitly to not differentiate between such groups.”
