Top US officials write to Kerry about Pakistan’s alleged failure in combatting Islamic terror organisation such as LeJ, JuD, LeT, demand suspending portions of assistance, travel restrictions
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and committee’s Ranking Member Eliot Engel have sent a letter to US State Secretary John Kerry to express their serious concern about Pakistan’s failure in combating Islamist terrorist groups operating within its territory.
In the letter, Royce and Engel write, “The United States should pursue a different approach with the Pakistani government. We urge you to consider implementing travel restrictions, suspending portions of assistance, and sanctioning Pakistani officials that maintain relationships with designated terrorist groups. Such an approach would make clear that the US and Pakistan cannot have a true strategic partnership until Pakistan cuts all ties with terrorist organisations and renounces its use as an instrument of state policy.”
“We remain deeply concerned that Pakistan has failed to take meaningful action against key Islamist terrorist groups operating within its territory. Like you, we were horrified by the December attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar which killed almost 150 people, mostly school children. This recent attack has only heightened our concerns,” they said.
The letter said that while the government of Pakistan has taken some steps to disrupt al-Qaeda and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), it has done “much less” to combat other designated foreign terrorist groups such as Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Jaish-e-Muhammad. This selective approach appears to stem from a misguided belief that some terrorist groups serve Pakistan’s foreign policy goals in India and Afghanistan, they added.
“We appreciate that you and other senior level administration officials regularly raise the need to confront these groups with Pakistani officials. Yet it does not appear that this engagement has resulted in any real change in Pakistan’s policies.”
They welcomed Pakistan’s recent announcement that it will soon ban the Haqqani Network, but were skeptical that this will result in any real change in Pakistan’s policy. They pointed out that groups like LeT and JuD are “ostensibly banned” and still able to operate with “virtual impunity”. “Indeed, given Pakistan’s history of support for terrorist groups, we are concerned that an outright ban will never come.”
They asked the US state secretary to consider implementing travel restrictions, suspending portions of assistance, and sanctioning Pakistani officials that maintain relationships with designated terrorist groups.
“Pakistan has been devastated by terrorism. Indeed, in 2013, more than 3,000 Pakistanis were killed as a result of terrorist attacks. Thousands of Pakistani soldiers have been killed and local communities have been brutalized. If Pakistan’s long-term prospects are to improve for all its people, its leaders must make a clear break from the policies of the past.”
Morevoer, they appreciated Kerry’s personal commitment to the US-Pakistan relationship and said they look forward to working with him to address this issue and other critical foreign policy matters in the coming year.