Nov. 25: On the eve of second anniversary of the 26/11 attacks, the US on Thursday declared three top operatives of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba as “global terrorists” and slapped sanctions against a charity group, closely linked to the terror outfit and Jamaat-ud Dawa.
Sanctions were slapped against the Pakistan-based Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), which is closely connected to LeT and JuD. The foundation has provided humanitarian assistance to Pakistanis displaced by recent floods.
“Today’s amendment of the LeT designation to include FIF shows that the United States will not tolerate any support to this organisation. LeT has attempted to use FIF as a way to evade scrutiny. This designation will help put to an end that attempted evasion,” said the state department’s coordinator for counter-terrorism ambassador, Mr Daniel Benjamin.
Besides slapping sanctions on FIF, the US designated three senior LeT members as global terrorists. Two of them are Mian Abdullah, head of LeT’s traders department, and Mohammed Naushad Alam Khan, a key financial facilitator for the outfit.
LeT senior leader and current head of FIF, Hafiz Abdur Rauf, is the third person in the list. LeT has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist acts against Indian and US interests and is responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. The group has been closely associated with Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network.
The various actions taken against FIF support the US effort to degrade the capabilities of LeT.