WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, the United States Department of State, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, designated Kashmir’s Pakistan-based militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
“Today’s action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that HM is a terrorist organization,” The State Department wrote in a statement. “Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of U.S. agencies and other governments.”
Wednesday’s designation arrives less than two months after the Department of State designated the militant group’s Pakistan-based leader Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as Syed Salahuddin, 71, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). The move came hours before Indian Prime Minister and President Trump had their first in-person meeting at the White House on June 26.
The move by the State Department to designate HM a terrorist entity also arrived two days after Trump called Modi to congratulate him on India celebrating its 70th anniversary of independence from British colonial rule. According to a White House-issued readout of the leaders’ conversation, “The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations.”
In their designation of Salahuddin last month, the State Department noted that “In September 2016, Salahuddin vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir valley “into a graveyard for Indian forces.”
The Pakistani government slammed the designation as “completely unjustified.”
The HM, which was formed in 1989, is one of the largest and oldest terrorist outfits operating in Kashmir. The State Department also noted that “Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014, explosives attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people.”
Jammu and Kashmir is the official name for India’s territory.
According to India Today, Salahuddin admitted to Pakistan’s Geo News that his group carried out terror attacks on Indian soil and said HM has a lot of supporters in India.
“We have many supporters in India who sympathize with us and have an understanding of the Kashmir issue,” Salahuddin reportedly said. “We carried out a few terror attacks but after 9/11, the world scenario changed. And we realized, that if we continued to carry out terror attacks outside Kashmir, then India would get an opportunity to label Kashmir as a terror state.” He reportedly also admitted to purchasing weapons from international markets, saying, “We get the arms from the international market. All I want is money. You tell me where you want the arms. I will have them delivered there.”
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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