New Delhi, May 1
A US State Department report today said that Pakistan’s federally administered tribal areas (FATAs) “have become safe haven” for Al-Qaida terrorists and other extremist insurgents since the fall of the Taliban in December 2001.

Despite Pakistan's efforts to establish effective governance in FATA, the tribal areas continue to be safe havens for terrorists and sources of instability for Pakistan and its neighbours, the “Country reports on terrorism and patterns of global terrorism” said.

Three Pakistan-based terror outfits - Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ) - have been retained in the State Department’s List of Terrorist Organisations. Significantly, about the JEM, the report said that the outfit was investing in such legal businesses as commodity market, real estate and production of consumer goods to raise funds for its terrorist activities.

The report is a corroboration of national security advisor M.K. Narayanan’s sensational disclosure at a conference in Munich this February wherein he had said Pakistan-based terror outfits were using new modus operandi like manipulating stock exchanges for raising funds for terrorist activities.

The US report said the failure of the tribal leaders in FATA to fulfill their promises to the government under the terms of the North Waziristan agreements, signed in September last, led to additional insurgent infiltration into Afghanistan.

“Pakistan remains a major source of Islamic extremism and a safe haven for some top terrorist leaders. Credible reports estimated that as many as 900 Pakistanis lost their lives in more than 650 terror attacks in 2006, with another 1,500 people seriously injured. Pakistan has experienced attacks from international terror networks such as Al-Qaida and its supporters. Attacks occurred with greatest frequency in the regions bordering Afghanistan: Balochistan, the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), and the adjacent FATA,” the report said.

Here are some other important highlights of the report:

• Despite having approximately 80,000 troops in FATA, including army and frontier corps (FC) units, the government of Pakistan had been unable to exert control over the area.
• In South Asia, Afghan attacks were up by about 60 per cent. Pakistan and India both had fewer attacks.
• Jaish-e-Mohammed continues to operate openly in parts of Pakistan despite President Musharraf's 2002 ban on its activities. The group is well-funded, and is said to have tens of thousands of followers who support attacks against Indian targets, the Pakistani government and sectarian minorities.
• In anticipation of asset seizures by the Pakistani government, JEM withdrew funds from bank accounts and invested in legal businesses, such as commodity trading, real estate, and production of consumer goods. In addition, JEM collects funds through donation requests in magazines and pamphlets, and Al-Qaida is suspected of providing funding.