Magazine : 
Lashkar-E-Taiba Is One of the Most Potent Terrorist Groups in South Asia: U.S.
Washington: Days after a U.S. Army report said that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) continues to recruit the best and the brightest in Pakistan and are focused on Kashmir, a top Pentagon commander told U.S. lawmakers that the terror group remains one of the most potent terror groups in South Asia.
"LeT was responsible for the November 2008 attack in Mumbai, India that killed over 160 people, including six Americans, and has supported or executed a number of other attacks in South Asia in recent years," Admiral Samuel Locklear, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing.
Beyond the direct impact of these attacks, there is a significant danger that another major terrorist attack could destabilise the "fragile peace" between India and Pakistan, Locklear told the Senators.
"Should the perpetrators of such an attack be linked back to Pakistan - as was the case in the 2008 attack - the Indian government may face domestic pressure to respond and the resulting spiral of escalation could be rapid. For those reasons, and more importantly to protect innocent lives, we and our partners in the U.S. Government engage regularly with the Indians and Pakistanis to avert such a crisis," he said in his prepared remarks.
India's relationship with Pakistan has gradually improved in recent years, thanks to a series of confidence building measures, growing economic ties and the absence of large-scale destabilising incidents, the PACOM Commander said.
"However, we remain concerned that the progress could be quickly undone by a major terrorist attack," he said.
