In a move that vindicates India’s concerns over the insidious influence of trans-national terror networks, the United States State Department has designated Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), the suspected mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror carnage, as a “front organisation of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT).
Concurrently, the US Department of the Treasury targeted the financial and leadership networks of LeT by designating Pakistan based Nazir Ahmad Chaudhry (Ahmad) and Muhammad Hussein Gill as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) for acting for, or on behalf of LeT. This move will freeze any assets they may hold in the United States and will bar Americans from conducting transactions with them.
The US State Department retained LeT on the Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) list. Updating the list, the State Department has added Jama’at-ud-Dawa, Al-Anfal Trust, Tehrik-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool and Tehrik-e-Tahafuz Qibla Awwal as front organisations and aliases of LeT. The State Department originally designated LeT as an FTO in December 2001.
“In targeting Lashkar-e-Taiba leadership, today’s action demonstrates our unrelenting commitment to combating terrorism by disrupting terrorist groups’ financial activities,” said the Under Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S Cohen.
The LeT is widely held responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, which killed 166 people. The US State Department also confirmed that LeT was also responsible for the May 23 attack on the Indian consulate in Herat. Afghan President Hamid Karzai had told a media network that the LeT was responsible for the terrorist attack.
The group’s leader, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, is also a designated terrorist. India has accused Hafiz Saeed of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attack and has repeatedly urged Pakistan to bring him to justice after handing over evidence against him.
He reportedly lives freely in Lahore under the Pakistani state protection and continues to spew anti-India venom at rallies and appear on television
A spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa said the group was “carefully studying” the statement and would respond soon.
Author Profile
- India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.
Latest entries
In ConversationNovember 24, 2024Putin’s guru calls for “pole-to-pole” India-Russia relations- India and the WorldNovember 19, 2024Modi Strengthens Global Ties Through Key Bilateral Talks at G20 Summit in Rio
- India and the WorldNovember 19, 2024India, China foreign ministers advance reset in Brazil meeting
- India and the WorldNovember 19, 2024G20 launches Global Alliance against Poverty, Modi champions Global South
