The US State Department designated the terror group that claimed responsibility for April 22's Pahalgam massacre as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Thursday night.
The Resistance Front (TRF) will now be recognized by the US as a front and proxy group for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and added to LeT's designation as an FTO and SDGT. The Indian government has repeatedly alleged over recent years that TRF was formed as a proxy of LeT.
"TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024," the State Department noted.
"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," Rubio commented.
TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam massacre, which killed 26 civilians, and led to India's "Operation Sindoor," when Indian Air Force fighter jets carried out intensive airstrikes against the Pakistani military.
India also responded by destroying the homes of two TRF terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on April 25.
In addition, Indian security forces killed three LeT terrorists in Kashmir's Shopian district on May 13, seizing rifles, grenades, and weapons caches.
Who is Lashkar-e-Taiba?
Lashkar-e-Taiba is a Pakistani jihadist group founded in 1985 with funding from al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The US designated LeT as a terror group in December 2001.
LeT was responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the deadliest in India's history, which killed 166 and injured hundreds.
One of the targets during the Mumbai attacks was Nariman House, where the local Chabad-Lubavitch center was located. During the attack on Nariman House, terrorists murdered six Jews, including Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, and his pregnant wife, Rivka.