The US on Thursday designated The Resistance Front, which had initially claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio took the decision on July 2 in consultation with the US attorney-general and treasury secretary. But the announcement was made 15 days later after Congress was notified and a public notice published in the Federal Register, similar to a gazette notification in India.
Washington linked the decision to “justice for the Pahalgam attack”.
The public notice said Rubio had concluded that “there is sufficient factual basis to find that the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba uses the additional aliases The Resistance Front, TRF;… Therefore,… I hereby amend the designation of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba as Specially Designated Global Terrorist to include the following new aliases: The Resistance Front, TRF….”
Lashkar has long been proscribed by the United Nations and the US.
India welcomed the US announcement, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar terming it “a strong affirmation of India-US counter-terrorism cooperation”.
Jaishankar’s post on X added: “Appreciate @SecRubio and @StateDept for designating TRF — a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) proxy — as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). It claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Zero tolerance for Terrorism.”
The US state department projected the terror designations as a demonstration of the Donald Trump administration’s “commitment to protecting our national security interests, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump’s call for justice for the Pahalgam attack”.
There was no immediate response from Pakistan although Islamabad had in April opposed identifying TRF as the perpetrator in the UN Security Council’s statement on the Pahalgam attack.
Pakistan, currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, managed to get the mention of TRF removed from the statement, issued on April 25, foreign minister Ishaq Dar later told Pakistan’s National Assembly.
Dar claimed it as a success for Islamabad’s foreign policy. Pakistan apparently had the backing of China — a veto-wielding permanent member — in this.
TRF had initially claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, in which 25 tourists and a local pony operator were killed. Later, reports said the organisation had denied any role and alleged the earlier claims were the handiwork of the Indian State’s “cyber intrusion”.
The US state department said: “TRF, a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) front and proxy, claimed responsibility for the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack which killed 26 civilians. This was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks conducted by LeT.
“TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recentlyin 2024.”
The state department added: “TRF and other associated aliases have been added to LeT’s designation as a(n) FTO and SDGT pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, respectively. The Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the FTO designation of LeT.”
Even before the Pahalgam attack, India had been tracking TRF and had provided information on the little-known group to the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee.
In his media statement on the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7, foreign secretary Vikram Misri had revealed that India “had given inputs about the TRF in the half-yearly report to the Monitoring Team of the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee in May and November 2024, bringing out its role as a cover for Pakistan-based terrorist groups”.
Earlier, in December 2023, India had informed the monitoring team about Lashkar and the Jaish-e-Mohammad operating through small terror groups such as TRF.
“Pakistan’s pressure to remove references to TRF in the April 25 UN Security Council Press Statement is notable in this regard,” Misri had added.
India’s external affairs ministry said TRF had been involved in “numerous terror-related activities, including the heinous attack on civilians in Pahalgam… for which it twice claimed responsibility”.
It said India had consistently emphasised the need for global cooperation in the fight against terrorism and the dismantling of terror infrastructure.
The ministry described the terror designation for TRF as “a timely and important step”, adding that New Delhi remained committed to working closely with its international partners to ensure that terrorist groups and their proxies were held accountable.
The US government can block FTO funds deposited in American financial institutions, bar FTO members from entering the country, and prohibit any US financial institution, organisation, or individual from providing material support, services, or resources to an FTO.