US Department of State on Thursday (local time) designated The Resistance Front (TRF), the offshoot of Pakistani Islamic terror group Laskar-e-Taiba (LeT) behind the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, as a terrorist organisation.
In a statement issued by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the statement acknowledged the fact that the organisation claimed responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir which claimed the lives of 26 civilians.
The US therefore, accorded the TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
“Today, the Department of State is adding The Resistance Front (TRF) as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). 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 recently in 2024,” the statement read.
The statement said that this action demonstrated the US President Donald Trump administration’s commitment of countering terrorism.
“These actions taken by the Department of State demonstrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump’s call for justice for the Pahalgam attack,” the statement said.
“TRF and other associated aliases have been added to LeT’s designation as a 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. Amendments to FTO designations go into effect upon publication in the Federal Register,” the statement added.
Jaishankar calls for uncompromising stand against terrorism at SCO
Earlier on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stressed the importance of taking an uncompromising stance against terrorism, citing the recent Pahalgam terrorist attack in India, which was condemned by the UN Security Council.
The Minister was speakting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting in Tianjin. He highlighted three evils – terrorism, separatism and extremism, which often occur together in his X post.
Jaishankar said, “Recently, we in India witnessed a graphic example in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. It was deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide. The UN Security Council, of which some of us are currently members, issued a statement that condemned it in the strongest terms and “underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice”. We have since done exactly that and will continue doing so. It is imperative that the SCO, to remain true to its founding objectives, take an uncompromising position on this challenge.”
The Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor
On 22nd April 2025, the Islamic terrorists belonging to LeT offshoot The Resistance Front (TRF) invaded the Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam, separating Hindu tourists from muslims and executing 26 civilians (25 tourists, 1 local) at point-blank range. In its investigation the National Investigation Agency emphasised that this “selective killing based on religious identity” marked it as a calculated act of communal terror. The Pahalgam attack triggered Opration Sindoor (May 7) – India’s precision airstrikes destroying 9 terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and killing over 100 terrorists. Subsequent strikes on Pakistan’s Noor Khan airbase forced Islamabad to seek a ceasefire on May 10. India has warned of “more severe responses” to future provocations.
(With inputs from ANI)
