The US bluntly told Pakistan to ensure that no terrorist or militant groups are allowed to continue within its territory and to make sure that no support is being given to them by the government there. "There are a number of terrorist groups and militant organisations operating in Pakistan, and we need to make sure that there's no support being given to them by Pakistani government," Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan told the Fox News in an interview.
The top White House counter-terrorism official said there are evidences of involvement of Pakistani Taliban in the failed Times Square plot for which Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was arrested recently. "Shahzad, who attempted to carry out the attack in Times Square -- it looks as though he was operating on behalf of the Tehrik- e Taliban Pakistan. "That's the Taliban within Pakistan. This is a group that is closely allied with Al Qaeda. It has a murderous agenda similar to Al Qaeda. They train, plan and plot together. They're almost indistinguishable," Brennan said. The tough message came a day after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Pakistan that it will face "very severe consequences" if any terror plot was traced to that country".
Brennan said the US is working very closely with the Pakistan to make sure that Islamabad is able to utilise its intelligence resources so that all those behind the terrorist acts are captured, arrested and interrogated. "The Pakistanis have been cooperative, particularly in this investigation. They need to maintain the pressure on all of these groups. There are no militant or terrorist groups in Pakistan that should be allowed to continue there," he said. "They've moved into Waziristan. They (Pakistan) need to continue to apply the pressure there, along the border, as well as in other areas," Brennan said.
Responding to a question, Brennan said the US believes that Shahzad was trained by Pakistani Taliban and appears that the Times Square bombing attempt was funded byPakistani Taliban. "He (Shahzad) had extensive interaction with the TTP. And this is something that we are, again, looking at very carefully, understanding the extent of that interaction and the extent of the direction and guidance that was given tohim," he said. Brennan said Shahzad becoming a US national facilitated him back and forth travel between the US and Pakistan. Shahzad gained US citizenship last year and since then he has spent most of his time in Pakistan.
