KARACHI: The US has designated the group, which claimed an attack in India-held Kashmir’s Pahalgam area, as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) and specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) group.

Without any evidence, New Delhi had blamed Islamabad for the April 22 attack, which saw 26 people killed in the Baisaran hill station, and used it as a pretext to launch military strikes against Pakistan.

According to a recent BBC News report, the group had initially said it was behind the attack, but later disowned it.

Thursday’s statement from the State Department seemed to echo India’s viewpoint, which has claimed that the little-known newly-formed group was actually a “front and proxy” of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

India also blames the LeT for orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks and several other attacks on military forces. The US earlier designated LeT as an FTO in December 2001.

One of the first mentions of the group came in 2020, when then-Indian army chief M.M. Naravane accused Pakistan of creating a “new terror group” in occupied Kashmir.

“I would rather call it Terror Revival Front. It is another terrorist organisation by another name. This is a terrorist organisation supported by its proxies across the border. They will be dealt with appropriately,” he was quoted as saying. Pakistan’s Foreign Office had rejected the allegation at the time.

“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,” the statement said.

In a recent interview with Indian journalist Karan Thapar, former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had said that Pakistan was ready to cooperate with India against this group.

At the time, Mr Thapar had claimed that New Delhi’s attempts to have the group designated as a terror outfit by the United Nations had been blocked by China, on Pakistan’s behalf.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2025