US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the designation of TRF as a terrorist organisation demonstrates President Donald Trump’s commitment to countering terrorism and enforcing his call for justice for the Pahalgam attack.
His statement came shortly after the US designated The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy outfit of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the group behind the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 innocent civilians were killed, as a terrorist organisation.
“Today, the Department of State is adding The Resistance Front (TRF) as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT),” Rubio said in a statement.
“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,” Rubio added.
Rubio described the Pahalgam incident as the ‘deadliest attack’ on India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks perpetrated by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“This (Pahalgam attack) was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks conducted by LeT. TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024,” he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized the need to take an uncompromising stand against terrorism and cited the recent Pahalgam terror attack in India, which the United Nations Security Council condemned.
Jaishankar said, “Recently, we in India witnessed a graphic example in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. It was deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide. The UN Security Council, of which some of us are currently members, issued a statement that condemned it in the strongest terms… It is imperative that the SCO, to remain true to its founding objectives, take an uncompromising position on this challenge.”
On April 22, Pakistan-backed terrorists attacked tourists at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam, killing 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen while leaving several others injured.
On May 7, the Indian Army struck nine terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir under ‘Operation Sindoor’, killing over 100 dreaded terrorists and avenging the loss of lives in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
