US designates TRF as terror outfit, enforcing Trump’s call for justice over Pahalgam attack

New York: In a diplomatic victory for India, the US has designated The Resistance Front (TRF) as a global terrorist organisation, following up on US President Donald Trump’s demand for justice for the Pahalgam attack.

Announcing the TRF’s listing as a terrorist outfit, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the action “demonstrates 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”.

He said he was adding the TRF to the lists of designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

“TRF, a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) front and proxy, claimed responsibility for the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 civilians”, his announcement said.

“This was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks conducted by LeT”, he added.

Trump, who strongly condemned the attack, called Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon after the TRF attack and “expressed full support to India to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous attack”, according to the External Affairs Ministry.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raised the TRF attack during his meetings with Rubio and at the meeting of Quad foreign ministers in Washington last month.

The LeT, for which the TRF serves as a front, is based in Pakistan and receives official backing.

An all-party parliamentary delegation led by Congress Party leader Sashi Tharoor met US members of Congress and officials last month to apprise them of the role of the TRF.

Following the April attack by the TRF, India launched Operation Sindoor that attacked LeT bases in Pakistan.

Rubio said, “TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024”.

In October last year, the TRF killed six labourers working on a tunnel near Sonamarg and a doctor.

The TRF gunmen who opened fire at a camp for workers also injured five people.

The US is concerned about the activities of the LeT and its front, the TRF, because during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, six Americans were among the about 170 people killed.

The SDGT designation for the TRF aims at the property of the terror groups and their terrorists and their ability to carry out financial transactions.

The FTO designation imposes travel restrictions on the terror outfit and its members in addition to freezing their assets.

IANS