Won’t hesitate to act alone against terror groups in Pak., warns U.S.

The U.S. has been saying that Pakistan has not yet placed adequate pressure on the Haqqani network to prevent them from plotting attacks in Afghanistan.

In a blunt message, the U.S. has warned Pakistan that it will not hesitate to act alone, when necessary, to disrupt and destroy terror networks as the country’s powerful spy agency ISI was not acting against all terror groups operating on its soil.

“The problem is that there are forces within the Pakistani government — specifically in Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI — that refuse to take similar steps against all the terrorist groups active in Pakistan, tolerating some groups — or even worse,” Adam Szubin, Acting Under Secretary on Countering the Financing of Terrorism, told a Washington audience.

“We continue to urge our partners in Pakistan to go after all terrorist networks operating in their country. We stand ready to help them. But there should be no doubt that while we remain committed to working with Pakistan to confront ongoing terrorist financing and operations, the U.S. will not hesitate to act alone, when necessary, to disrupt and destroy these networks,” Mr. Szubin warned.

‘Selective targeting’ In his remarks at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Mr. Szubin said at the same time, Pakistan has been — and remains — a critical counter-terrorism partner in many respects.

“Pakistan has achieved success in its ongoing operations against traditional terrorist safe havens in northwest Pakistan... But the ISI problem of supporting terrorist groups continues... This is a distinction we cannot stand for,” Mr. Szubin asserted.

The U.S. has been saying that Pakistan has not yet placed adequate pressure on the Haqqani network to prevent them from plotting attacks in Afghanistan.

This was also stressed by the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson last month.