WASHINGTON, April 28: A US government study released on Friday reports an increase in terrorist activities in South Asia during 2005 but acknowledges that Pakistan has ‘significantly increased’ its effort to fight terrorists.

The report notes that terrorism remained a major problem in the region, with increases in activity by terrorist groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

“Pakistan captured or killed hundreds of terrorists, significantly increasing the effectiveness of its counter-terrorism operation,” says the report, noting that in July, President Pervez Musharraf declared a ‘jihad on extremism’ and promised to close down extremist institutions.

The Country Reports on Terrorism 2005 reports the emergence during the year of increasingly, small autonomous cells and individuals drawing on advanced technologies and the tools of globalisation combined with the motivation to commit terrorist acts.

Many terrorists worldwide moved to improve their sophistication in exploiting the global interchange of information, finance and ideas. They also improved their technological ability across many areas of operational planning, communications, targeting and propaganda, the report says.

A chapter on Pakistan notes: “During 2005, the government of Pakistan continued to pursue Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their allies aggressively with counter-terrorist police measures throughout the country and large-scale military operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border.

“Al Qaeda has declared the government of Pakistan one of its main enemies, and has called for its overthrow. Nearly 160 people were killed in Sunni-Shia sectarian attacks, a decline from the nearly 200 killed in 2004.

“In the run-up to the September parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, Pakistan deployed approximately 80,000 troops, including Frontier Corps units, to the border region.

“Pakistan Army and FC units raided key Al Qaeda safe havens in North and South Waziristan, including a compound used by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a leading Taliban figure. President Musharraf reported in November that Hamza Rabia, Al Qaeda’s chief of external operations, was killed in an explosion in North Waziristan. These operations significantly degraded Al Qaeda’s command and control capabilities in the region and disrupted cross-border operations.

“Parallel to this military effort, the government developed a strategy designed to win the support of the tribes in Fata with a combination of negotiations and economic development investments.

“Pakistani security services cooperated closely with the United States and other nations in a campaign to eliminate international terrorism. Hundreds of suspected operatives of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have been killed or captured by Pakistani authorities since September 2001.

“Notable arrests by Pakistani security forces included Syed Mohammad Hashim, wanted in connection with the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi chief Asif Choto and leading Al Qaeda fugitive Abu Faraj Al Libi. Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi was arrested and transferred to Afghan custody in October.”