US terms Pakistani outfit leader 'terrorist'

The US has designated the leader of Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi as a terrorist, the State Department said Thursday.

Malik Ishaq is a founding member and the current leader of the group, which claimed responsibility for two attacks in northwestern Pakistan in 2013 that killed nearly 200 civilians, Xinhua cited the State Department as saying in a statement.

In 1997, Ishaq admitted he was involved in terror activities that resulted in the deaths of over 100 Pakistanis, the statement said.

The US has now banned its citizens from engaging in transactions with Ishaq and frozen all his assets within US jurisdiction.