Terror groups stealing sovereignty of Pakistan: John Kerry

Terrorist groups like LeT and the Haqqani network are stealing sovereignty of Pakistan, US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday warned the country.

Washington: Terrorist groups like LeT and the Haqqani network are stealing sovereignty of Pakistan, US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned as he reminded the country of its commitment that it would take action against all terror outfits without discrimination.

"Groups like the Haqqani network or Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad, all of these groups are literally stealing sovereignty of the nation. And they are stealing the future of the nation. It is important for us to stand up to them," Kerry said yesterday in his opening remarks at the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, which he co-chaired with Pakistani Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz.

"We welcome Pakistan's commitment not to differentiate between terrorist groups...Groups like the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba seek to undermine Pakistan's efforts to foster strong, positive relationship with its neighbours," Kerry said.

"We recognise that every country can do more to intensify, to destroy and defeat violent radical extremists. We commend Pakistan for its...Approach to implement the national action plan to eliminate the ability of the militant groups to recruit, to finance and to incite violence," said the top American diplomat, as he referred to the recent terrorist attack on the Bachha Khan University.

Aziz, in his opening remarks, reiterated Pakistan's resolve to "finish and win" the fight against terrorism.

"Our strategy to eliminate the terrorist networks and defeat their extremist ideology is all-encompassing," he said.

Through military operation Zarb-e-Azb, Pakistan is determined to deny space to any terrorist groups to plan and launch violent activities from the Pakistani soil, he said.

"After almost year and a half since its launch, Zarb-e-Azb is probably the most successful story in the history of counter-terrorism operations," he claimed.

Pakistan is taking all necessary measures to launch intelligence-based operations and choke the funding sources of terrorist organisations.

So far, more than one billion rupees worth of accounts have been frozen by the State Bank of Pakistan belonging to the terrorist and extremist organisations, he said.

Aziz said multiple actions are underway to defeat the extremist agenda or propaganda of the terrorist organisations through a counter-narrative strategy.