Pahalgam terror attack: US designates TRF a foreign terrorist organisation

India welcomes Trump admin's decision as a 'timely and important' step

India’s diplomatic efforts received a shot in the arm on Friday with the US designating The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), as a "foreign terrorist organisation" over the Pahalgam terror attack. The US designation of TRF could help put the terrorist outfit on the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC’s) 1267 Committee, a key counter-terrorism mechanism that designates terrorists and their organisations.

 

India welcomed the US decision as a “timely and important” step, reflecting strong counter-terror cooperation between the two countries. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the TRF, a “proxy” of Pakistan-based terrorist organisation LeT, has been involved in numerous terror-related activities, including the heinous attack on civilians in Pahalgam, for which it twice claimed responsibility.

 

 

The US move could also help bolster the government’s defence of its conduct of India’s foreign policy in the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which begins on Monday (July 21). Opposition INDIA bloc parties have announced that they intend to ask the government questions over Operation Sindoor and India’s foreign relations, especially with China.

 

 

In a related development, and hours after the US proscribed the TRF, China on Friday called on regional countries to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation to safeguard regional security. In its statement on April 25, the UNSC had condemned the Pahalgam attack of April 22, in which terrorists killed 26 people, but China and Pakistan’s objections made it drop references to the TRF and LeT from the statement.

 

On June 23, India refused to sign a joint communique at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting in China’s Qingdao as it omitted the Pahalgam terror attack and did not explicitly address India’s concerns over Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.

 

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US State Department is adding the TRF as a designated foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) and specially designated global terrorist (SDGT). He said it was part of Washington's commitment to countering terrorism and enforcing President Donald Trump's call for justice for the Pahalgam attack.

 

Rubio said the TRF, a “front and proxy” of LeT, claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, killing 26 civilians, which was "the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attack conducted by the LeT”. “(The) TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024,” Rubio said.

 

In a social media post, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said the US decision was a “strong affirmation” of India-US counter-terror cooperation, was a “timely and important” step, and that India has consistently emphasised the need for global cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The EAM said India remains committed to a “policy of zero tolerance” towards terrorism, and will continue to work closely with its international partners to ensure that terrorist organisations and their proxies are held accountable.

 

 

 

Jaishankar and MEA thanked Rubio. “We acknowledge and appreciate the leadership of Secretary of State Marco Rubio in this regard,” the MEA said. “Appreciate Secretary Rubio and the US State Department,” Jaishankar said.

 

The TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack but later backtracked as tensions soared between India and Pakistan. India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) identified TRF head Sheikh Sajjad Gul as the mastermind of the attack.

 

Several Pakistani terrorist groups and individuals are listed under the UNSC’s 1267 sanctions regime, which imposes asset freezes, travel bans, and arms embargoes. These include LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), along with key figures like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.

 

The TRF emerged in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. According to Indian intelligence sources, it has former Pakistani Special Service Group (SSG) commandos in its ranks. Other than the Pahalgam terror attack, sources said that it was involved in four major attacks in the past few years — the attack on pilgrims in Reasi in June 2024; on migrant construction workers in Z-Morh tunnel (also known as the Sonamarg tunnel) in Ganderbal in October 2024; the September 13, 2023 Kokernag encounter that left a colonel, a major and a deputy superintendent of police dead; and the July 8, 2020 attack on a BJP leader that killed him and two of his family members in Bandipora district.

 

The attacks in Reasi and Ganderbal left 16 people, including seven pilgrims, dead and several injured.

 

The TRF was founded in October 2019, with Sheikh Sajjad Gul as its supreme commander, Mohammad Abbas Sheikh as the founding chief, and Basit Ahmed Dar as the chief operational commander. Both Abbas and Dar, local terrorists, were eliminated by security forces in separate operations in the Valley on August 23, 2021 and May 7, 2024, respectively.

 

(With PTI inputs)