Pakistan, a staunch ally in the US-declared war on terror, slapped a new ban on Saturday on three outlawed Islamic militant organisations which had regrouped under new names.

The ban came two days after the United States ambassador to Pakistan voiced concerns over the re-emergence of the militants groups. ?No militant or sectarian organisation will be allowed to function in Pakistan?, said an official statement reported by state-run APP news agency.

The decision to ban the three ? a militant group fighting Indian rule in the disputed Kashmir region and two organisations involved in domestic sectarian violence ? came at a meeting attended by President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali. The statement said the new ban was imposed on these organisations ?for flouting the earlier ban order?.

Last year, Musharraf banned five militant groups including Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 and an assault on the Indian parliament.

The new orders banned Khudam-ul Islam, formerly Jaish-e-Mohammad, and outlawed radical Sunni Muslim Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and rival Shi?te Muslim Tehrik-e-Jafria Pakistan groups which have also regrouped under new names.