Washington, July 18: The United States has officially designated The Resistance Front (TRF) — a known offshoot of Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba — as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation following the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 people.In a statement released Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “Today, the Department of State is adding The Resistance Front (TRF) as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).”
The US officials described the Pahalgam attack as the deadliest terror strike on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks carried out by LeT.
The Resistance Front (TRF), which is also known as Kashmir Resistance, had claimed responsibility for the attack in Pahalgam. However, a few days later, the group retracted its statement and denied any involvement.
Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist militant organisation designated as a “foreign terrorist group” by the United States, has been accused of carrying out multiple terror attacks in India and other parts of the world. The group is also accused of the devastating three-day terror attack in Mumbai that took place in November 2008.
“These actions taken by the Department of State demonstrate 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 added.
Rubio said that TRF and its associated aliases have now been officially added to Lashkar-e-Taiba’s designation as both FTO and SDGT, under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, respectively. The designation amendments will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register.
Earlier, the US reaffirmed its strong support for India’s fight against terrorism and the bilateral strategic partnership during the visit of an Indian all-party parliamentary delegation.
On April 22, four armed terrorists stormed the Baisaran Valley in Pahalgam and shot Hindu men after confirming their religion.
This escalated a major military conflict with India launching Operation Sindoor – precision airstrikes on terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK) on May 7.
During the operation, India damaged Pakistan’s major military infrastructure, including the Noor Khan air base in Rawalpindi. Pakistan also resorted to repeated ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, and the international border in Punjab and Rajasthan.
The ceasefire was initially announced by President Donald Trump on Truth Social, following discussions between Washington and both countries. However, India rejected Trump’s claim that the ceasefire happened because of his intervention or threats to end trade talks.
India has maintained that any issues between New Delhi and Islamabad should be settled directly between the two nations, without any outside involvement.
The exchange of fire ended after Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) reached out to his Indian counterpart with a request to cease hostilities. Both sides mutually agreed to a ceasefire on May 10.