By NNN-PTI,
Washington : India was among the countries worst hit by terrorism in 2007 with over 2,300 deaths and the government’s counter-terrorism efforts remained hampered by “ill-equipped’ law enforcement machinery and “slow and laborious” legal systems, the US State Department has said.
In its annual report on terrorism, the State Department said terrorist activities along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir are on the decline but Pakistan-based militant outfits like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and other terrorist groups continue to plan attacks in the valley.
“Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and other Kashmir-focused groups continued regional attack planning. In 2007, Kashmir-focused groups continued to support attacks in Afghanistan, and operatives trained by the groups continued to feature in Al-qaeda transnational attack planning,”it said.
The report said Indian government’s contraries efforts remained hampered by outdated and overburdened law enforcement and legal systems.
“The Indian court system was slow, laborious, and prone to corruption. Terrorism trials can take years to complete. Many of India’s local police forces were poorly staffed, lacked training, and were ill-equipped to combat terrorism effectively,” the report said.
Noting about the attack on Samjhauta express in February last year, the report said, it was carried out by extremists who tried to incite anger among the Hindus and Muslims.
“These attacks, which killed and injured both Muslims and Hindus, were probably conducted by extremists hoping to incite anger between the Hindu and Muslim communities.