US, UN declare Harakat-ul Jihad al-Islami a terrorist group

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

WASHINGTON: The United States and the United Nations Friday designated Pakistan's Harakat-ul Jihad al-Islami as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization" and targeted its commander for supporting acts of terrorism, the US Treasury Department said.

Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, who the United States labeled a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist," will have any of his assets frozen in US jurisdiction, and the move will also "prohibit US persons from engaging in any transactions with him."

The United Nations, according to0 the Treasury Department, has taken similar action against HUJI and Kashmiri.

As the militant group's leader, US officials said 46-year-old Kashmiri "provides support to Al-Qaeda operations, including logistical support for Al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks," the Treasury Department said in detailing deadly assaults on Pakistani government personnel and facilities.

"In acting together, the United States and United Nations are today taking another important step in combating the threat that Al-Qaeda and its affiliated organizations pose to innocent people around the world," said Stuart Levey, the US under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

HUJI's area of operation, said the Treasury Department, extends "throughout South Asia," but the arena for its terrorist activity remains mainly in India and Pakistan.

It also provided fighters to the Taliban fighting international forces in Afghanistan, and members of HUJI have trained in Al-Qaeda camps, said officials.

Among the attacks listed by the Treasury was a March 2006 suicide bombing on the US consulate in Karachi that killed four people, and injured 48 others.

Kashmiri was also accused of involvement in an attack on the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark, following uproar over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

David Coleman Headley, the Chicago man accused of scouting for the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege and a plot to kill a Danish cartoonist, worked with HUJI on the Danish plot, according to charges unveiled in March.