SRINAGAR: The United States has formally designated The Resistance Front (TRF), the group that initially claimed responsibility for the April massacre in Kashmir’s Pahalgam region, as a foreign terrorist organisation, calling it a front for the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The outfits are currently formally banned in Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement released on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said TRF had emerged as a proxy of the United Nations-designated terrorist organisation LeT and was involved in deadly attacks on civilians and security forces in India.
“This designation demonstrates 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 said.
On April 22, gunmen stormed the tourist town of Pahalgam in Kashmir, killing 26 people, most of them Hindu civilians. The attack, one of the deadliest on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, sparked nationwide outrage and escalated tensions with neighbouring Pakistan.
TRF had initially claimed responsibility for the massacre through encrypted social media platforms but later denied involvement. The group had largely remained in the shadows before the attack, raising concerns in Indian intelligence circles about new proxy formations in the region.
The Indian government had already designated TRF as a terrorist outfit and blamed Pakistan for backing the group.
Pakistan, however, has denied any connection to the incident, dismissing allegations of state-sponsored support for militant groups operating in Kashmir.
In his statement, Rubio drew a direct comparison between the Pahalgam massacre and the 2008 Mumbai attacks, both allegedly orchestrated by LeT. “This is the deadliest attack on civilians in India since 2008,” he said, reaffirming the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance approach to cross-border terrorism.
The US designation of TRF allows Washington to freeze the group’s assets, criminalise material support, and impose visa bans on its members. The move also signals growing international pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror proxies operating in the region under new identities.
