Pakistan acts on group tied to Lashkar

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Pakistani officials arrested leaders of a charity group linked to militants accused in the Mumbai attacks, closing its facilities and seizing assets.

Among the Jamaat ud-Dawa leaders placed under house arrest for three months was Hafiz Saeed, who founded Jamaat and Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Pakistani militant group suspected in the November attacks on India's financial and entertainment hub in which more than 170 people died, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Saeed said Jamaat ud-Dawa, which describes itself as a relief agency, wasn't involved in terrorism.

Pakistan's actions against the agency came the day after the U.N. Security Council declared Jamaat ud-Dawa a terrorist group, saying it was tied directly to Lashkar-e-Toiba, and imposed sanctions on the group, including a travel ban.

Since the assault on Mumbai, Pakistan has been under pressure from the United States and India to take major action against Lashkar-e-Toiba militants. The response is viewed as critical to easing tension between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.

"We'll have to wait and see what happens after the crackdown," Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for the International Crisis Group, told the Times of Thursday's actions. "It's not enough to just arrest them."