In a decisive move, the United States Department of State has designated Pakistan-based The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
This follows TRF’s involvement in the April 22, 2025, Islamist terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 Hindu civilians—marking the deadliest assault on Indian civilians since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
TRF is widely known as a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based terrorist group allegedly long backed by the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.
The Pahalgam massacre, which targeted a group of unarmed Hindu tourists and local workers, drew international condemnation and renewed calls to crack down on cross-border terror networks operating with impunity from Pakistani soil.
TRF has also claimed responsibility for multiple ambushes and attacks against Indian security forces, including several incidents in 2024. U.S. officials said the designation reflects Washington’s commitment to “protecting national security interests, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump’s call for justice for the Pahalgam victims.”
The designation, under Section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, will freeze all TRF assets under U.S. jurisdiction and criminalise any material support to the group.
In response to the Pahalgam killings, India launched Operation Sindoor, a swift and coordinated counter-terror action that eliminated many of the Islamist terrorist as well as Pakitsan army bases. The successful operation underscored India’s sharpened intelligence capabilities and zero-tolerance stance on terrorism.
In his first address on 12 May 2025 following Operation Sindoor, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the successful airstrikes that destroyed terror camps and military bases inside Pakistan. He praised the bravery of India’s armed forces, intelligence agencies, and scientists, dedicating their courage to the women of the nation. Modi warned that terrorists now know the price of attempting to erase the sindoor—a symbol of dignity—from the foreheads of India’s sisters and daughters.
The U.S. has also reaffirmed the FTO designation of LeT and extended it to include TRF and its aliases. The amendments take effect immediately upon publication in the Federal Register.
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