The White House asked Pakistan to immediately end "support" and "safe haven" to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack.
Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 40 personnel dead and many critically wounded.
"The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.
Advertisement
"This attack only strengthens our resolve to bolster counterterrorism cooperation and coordination between the United States and India," she said in a strongly-worded statement issued by the White House.
The involvement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pulwama terror attack has also raised serious questions about the role of the Pakistani spy agency ISI in it, American experts on South Asia have said.
"The self-proclaimed involvement of JeM in the attack raises serious questions about the role of the ISI in supporting the masterminds of this operation," Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst, told PTI.
The terrorist attack, which has direct footprints inside Pakistan, poses the first major challenge to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, said Riedel, who is now a scholar at the Brookings Institute think-tank.
Advertisement
"This will be a real challenge for Imran Khan, the first serious challenge of his administration," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
