Islamabad: Under pressure to clamp down on militant groups, Pakistan said it would take action against the banned organisations, which have resurfaced with new names.

After presiding over a high-level law and order meeting, Pakistan's Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat told reporters that his government would not allow any banned outfit to operate under new names and would take strict action if any of these banned outfits were found involved in such an activity.

"Whether these are banned outfits or tri-junction conflicts, the government is responsible to ensure rule of law and would go for it at any cost. We are committed to purge our society of terrorism and our every action must speak of our resolve. We must remain vigilant of hidden, internal or external hand and should not give any room to anti-state elements to use our soil," he said.

These groups were banned by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf last year during the height of Indo-Pak military tension. Five militant and sectarian outfits have been banned. These included Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM), which India blames for the terrorist attack on Indian Parliament. Another militant group Harkat-ul-Ansar too was subsequently banned.

The other three were sectarian outfits, representing Sunni and Shia militant outfits, which indulged in sectarian warfare in Pakistan.

Pakistan's weekly 'Independent' reported that JeM and Harkatul have renamed themselves as Khaddamul Islam and Jamaitul Ansar respectively, while Lashkar functioned under its old name.

PTI