DHAKA, Feb 7: The United States said on Saturday it was awaiting a response from other South Asian countries to a proposal by Bangladesh to form a regional task force to fight terrorism.

The proposal was made by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina before the Dec 29 national election, which was won by her Awami League party.

“We are awaiting response from other countries in the region over the (task force) proposal,” US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told reporters.

Hasina proposed the idea after militant attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai in November, in which 179 people were killed.

“It is an interesting and good idea,” Boucher said after meeting Bangladesh Home Minister Shahera Khatun.

New Delhi has accused Bangladeshi militants of conducting attacks in India, mainly in its northeastern region.

Bangladesh denied the allegations and said it had never allowed its territory to be used for attacks on other countries.

In late 2005, members of the outlawed militant groups Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, carried out a series of bomb attacks that killed 30 people including judges, lawyers and police, and wounded 150.

The groups’ leaders were executed in early 2007 but police say they are regrouping to try to turn the Muslim dominated Bangladesh into an Islamic country based on sharia Islamic law.

Boucher arrived in Dhaka on Saturday for a two-day visit. —Reuters