Pakistan's army soldiers guard the area, after IAF fighter jets bombing, in Jaba village, near Balakot. (Reute... Read More

JABA: Pakistani security officials on Thursday prevented a Reuters team from climbing a hill in northeastern Pakistan to the site of a madrassa and a group of surrounding buildings that was targeted by Indian warplanes last week.

It is the third time in the past nine days that Reuters reporters have visited the area – and each time the path up to what villagers say was a religious school run at one time by terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) and what the Indian government says was a "terrorist" training camp - was blocked.

India's foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said on the day of the strike that it had killed "a very large number of Jaish-e-Muhammed terrorists, trainers, senior commanders, and groups of jihadis" at the training camp.

The Pakistani security officials guarding the way to the site cited "security concerns" for denying access. They stuck to the Pakistani government's position ever since the Indian attack on February 26 that no damage was caused to any buildings and there was no loss of life.

In Islamabad, the military's press wing has twice called off visits to the site for weather and organisational reasons and an official said no visit would be possible for a few days more due to security issues.

Meanwhile, stepping up pressure on Pakistan, the US has asked Islamabad to take "sustained and irreversible" actions against terrorist groups operating from its territory to prevent future attacks and promote regional stability.

The state department statement came as Pakistan, under global pressure after the Pulwama terror attack and India's air strikes against Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) terrorist camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on February 26, started taking actions against some of the terrorist outfits and their leaders over the past few days.

In Islamabad, the interior ministry on Thursday announced that a total of 121 members of the proscribed groups have so far been taken into "preventive detention" across Pakistan.

State Department deputy spokesperson Robert Palladino told reporters at his biweekly news conference, "I would say that we, the United States notes these steps and we continue to urge Pakistan to take sustained, irreversible actions against terrorist groups that will prevent future attacks and promote regional stability".

"We reiterate our call for Pakistan to abide by its United Nations Security Council obligations to deny terrorists safe haven and block their entry to funds," he said.

Responding to questions, Palladino refrained from giving a direct answer on the move at the United Nations Security Council to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

However, he said that the US and its allies in the UN Security Council want to update the UN list of terrorist organisations and leaders.

"Our views on Masood Azhar and Jaish-e-Muhammed are well-known. Jaish-e-Muhammed is a United Nations-designated terrorist group that has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks and is a threat to regional stability. Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of JEM," Palladino said.

Questions on the United Nations Sanctions Committee deliberations are confidential and as such it is not something that the state department is going to be able to comment on specific matters on the issue, he said.

"But we will continue to work with the sanctions committee to ensure that the list is updated and that it is accurate," Palladino said.

At the US Capitol, India's ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla met Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives and discussed the issue of terrorism.

"We must stand strong against acts of terrorism and work together to improve trade between our nations," the top Republican leader said after the meeting.

India, Pakistan should turn the page, convert crisis into opportunity: China

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, meanwhile, urged India and Pakistan to quickly turn the page after the Pulwama terror attack, meet each other halfway and convert the present tensions into an opportunity for long term and fundamental improvement in their relations.

Wang also said post-Wuhan summit between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China wants to develop closer ties with India and forge ahead like the "Yangtze and Ganges" rivers despite Beijing's all weather ties with Pakistan.

Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated after 40 CRPF personnel were martyred when a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) targeted a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on February 14.

India launched a counter-terror operation in Balakot on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured its pilot, who was handed over to India on March 1.

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