US' decision to brand groups in the country as terror groups not binding: Pakistan

Pakistan's Foreign Office has reportedly termed the United States' decision to categorize three Pakistan-based organizations as terror outfits a 'unilateral move' that does not apply to Pakistan.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said during a media briefing in Islamabad that there is a procedure at the United Nations to declare a person or an organization as a terrorist but the US' decision to designate the three organizations as terror groups does not apply to Pakistan, reported the Dawn.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the two Pakistan-based terror outfits, LeT and Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HuM), on Wednesday and froze the assets of their leaders.

The Treasury noted that the assets were being used to provide financial support to LeT, the terror group that was responsible for carrying out the Mumbai terror attacks.

It described HuM as a terrorist group that operates throughout India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and has terrorist training camps in east Afghanistan.