"There's an operational advantage for militants in any place where law enforcement and domestic security are weak and distracted," said Steven Simon, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and co-author of "The Age of Sacred Terror".
The territory is claimed by both India and Pakistan, and India has long accused Pakistan of backing the anti-Indian insurgency by providing training, financing and an operational base to militants.
"It contributes to Hamas' military actions, including by providing operational messaging to militants, directing and explicitly calling for terror activities against Israel, and providing guidance on how to carry out such terror activities," the military said in a statement.
Pakistan said Tuesday that it had arrested Mr. Lakhvi, the operational commander of the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, during a raid on Sunday on a camp outside Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistani-controlled region of Kashmir.
But Israeli experts say that the rugged terrain of the Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by disgruntled Bedouin tribesmen, has become a fertile recruitment and operational ground for Islamic militant groups and that the Egyptian military has been reluctant to take on Bedouin militias.
"We have confirmed that Ahmed Godane, the co-founder of al-Shabaab, has been killed," said rear admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, describing it as a "major symbolic and operational loss" for the militant group, which aligned itself with al-Qaida.
Local authorities say no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks.
Up until Friday's attack, authorities had maintained no operational links exist between Bangladeshi militants and international jihadi networks.
Cameroon is also in an 8,700-strong 8,700-strongce led by Nigeregionalnst the militants, expected to be operational by the end oforce year.
A senior city police officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that militant commanders with those factions send operational orders to Karachi from the tribal belt; while some captured militants have tried to justify their activities by citing the authorization of religious clerics in the northwest.
Mukhlas – also known as Ali Ghufron – was the operational chief of Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant Islamist group in Southeast Asia.
