LeT adds to the overall high threat level in South Asia: US

Lalit K Jha
Washington, Apr 29 (PTI) Noting that the tribal areas
of Pakistan continue to be used as a base for terrorist
organisations, a top US counter-terrorism official has said
that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) adds to the "overall high threat
level" in South Asia.
In his remarks on 'al Qaeda and its affiliates' at
the New America Foundation Thursday, Daniel Benjamin,
Co-coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for
Counter-terrorism at the State Department, said that al
Qaeda's core leadership continues to be in Pakistan.
"Although, I would not characterise it as an
affiliate, though its ideology bears many similarities, the
continued menace of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a large,
well-armed, technically capable terrorist group, adds to the
overall high threat level in South Asia," Benjamin said.
He said Pakistan today is more willing to take
on extremist groups that directly threaten Pakistani targets,
such as military bases, intelligence offices, and police
stations.
"The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan is a prime example of
such a group. We continue to press Pakistan for increased
action against that group, to engage other allies on the
dangers posed by LeT, and to encourage all parties to take
appropriate action against these groups," he said.
Benjamin said US and Pakistan counter-terrorism
cooperation has put considerable pressure on al Qaeda (AQ),
and Pakistani military operations aimed at eliminating
militant strongholds in the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas (FATA) have degraded much of the group's abilities.
"As a result, the AQ core has had significant
leadership losses and is finding it more difficult to raise
money, train recruits, and plan attacks outside of the region.
But although AQ core is clearly weaker, it retains the
capability to conduct regional and transnational attacks,"
Benjamin said.
"In addition, AQ has forged closer ties with some of
the other militant groups in the region - for example Tehrik-e
Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Haqqani Network - and this has
provided the group with additional capabilities to draw on,"
he said.
Benjamin said everyone recognises, the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas region and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province continue to be used as a base for terrorist
organisations operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and
Pakistani security forces have undertaken efforts to counter
these threats.
Pakistan has made some progress on the CT
(counter-terrorism) front against other groups, specifically
against Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). But the challenge
remains to make these gains durable and sustainable, he said.
"We are working closely with the Government of
Pakistan on a range of counter-terrorism-related capacity
building projects, including numerous training courses for
Pakistani police, which are administered by the State
Department's Diplomatic Security bureau," he said.