WASHINGTON: The United States says militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba has the ability to strike in Europe or the United States.

Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Michael Leiter told a Senate intelligence hearing Wednesday there were indications that Lashkar, blamed for the 2008 attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, was ''expanding horizons beyond the region.''

He said while Lashkar has the capacity to attack elsewhere, ‘‘we have not yet seen those steps occur.''

Leiter said another Lashkar attack on India could be a ''very destabilizing factor'' in the region.