Pakistan needs to go after 26/11 Mumbai attack culprits: US
07 Sep 2016
Asserting that Washington has been very clear that it wants to see accountability and justice in the case of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, the United States said it is making its concerns clear that Pakistan needs to go after all the terrorist groups operating or seeking safe haven on its soil.
Speaking at the daily press briefing, US State Department deputy spokesperson, Mark C Toner said that Washington has long encouraged and pushed for greater counterterrorism cooperation which includes the sharing of intelligence between India and Pakistan in the Mumbai terror attack.
''We've been very clear that we want to see accountability and justice in the case of the Mumbai attacks, and as you noted, there were American citizens who lost their lives in that – those terrible attacks. We've long encouraged and pushed for greater counterterrorism cooperation, and that includes the sharing of intelligence between India and Pakistan in that regard,'' Toner said.
Toner further emphasised that the US has made its concerns clear that Pakistan needs to go after all the terrorist groups operating in the country over the terrorist attacks, which includes 26/11.
''We want to see full accountability for these terrible attacks. We're working with Pakistan, we're making our concerns clear that they need to go after all the terrorist groups that are operating or seeking safe haven on their soil. And that's been our clear objective for a long time now. We've seen progress, but we need to see more,'' he added.
Asked about the former US ambassador to the UN and Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad recent statement that the US should consider taking some kind of sanctions against Pakistan for not taking enough action against these terrorist network, Toner said, ''I don't think we're even at that point. I mean, we continue to have, as I said, conversations with the highest level of the government of Pakistan. And our basic point in all of these conversations is that Pakistan must target all militant groups, including those that target Pakistan's neighbors, and eliminate all safe havens.''
