US retains Foreign Terrorist designation of Pak-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba

The Pakistan based terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (Let), which carried out the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, has maintained its designation as Foreign Terrorist Organization amongst several others in a review conducted by the US Department of State.

The Pakistan based terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (Let), which carried out the Mumbai terror attack in 2008, has maintained its designation as Foreign Terrorist Organization amongst several others in a review conducted by the US Department of State, days ahead of change in power set to take place in the United States. LeT had been designated as a terrorist organization in 2001 by the United States.

The US Department of State has also added the aliases of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) and ISIL Sinai Peninsula (ISIL-SP) to the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Other terrorist organizations to have retained their Foreign Terrorist Organization status include Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al Naqshabandi, Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis-Sudan, Harakat ulMujahidin, alNusrah Front, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Continuity Irish Republican Army, and the National Liberation Army.

In a federal register notification released on January 14th, Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, stated that the designations had been done based on a review of administrative records, which concluded that there had been no such change in the circumstances that would allow the revocation of the designations of the above mentioned terrorist organizations. Further, he stated that revocation, in any case, would not be in line with the interests of the United States’ national security.

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As per the State Department, since the imposition of Foreign Terrorist Organization status, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba has frequently changed its name as well as created front organizations in an attempt to escape US sanctions. As a part of the clampdown on foreign terror organizations, the treasury department blocked USD 342,000 in funds from entering into LeT.

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