Pakistan-based outlawed groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have supported Taliban and Al Qaida in destabilising the country, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.
Malik, who made the remark while talking to a Pakistani TV news channel, did not give details of the linkages between the two outfits and the Taliban and Al Qaida.
Pakistan recently acknowledged that the Mumbai terrorist attack was planned and executed by the LeT, which was banned in the country in 2002.
However, Malik recently ruled out arresting LeT founder and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, saying there was no concrete evidence linking him to the Mumbai incident.
While talking to the TV channel, Malik also disclosed that elements in Pakistani intelligence agencies who were sympathetic to terrorists had resigned or had been arrested.
Some of these persons were officers of the rank of major and had wanted to target army generals, he said.
There were some elements in intelligence agencies who had links with terrorists, including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud and commanders Qari Ilyas and Qari Hussain. These elements also had links with banned groups, Malik said.
He said the South Waziristan tribal region had become a "hub of anti-state activities" and terrorists from several areas, including Hangu and Bajaur and Mohmand Agencies, were operating against the security forces.
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