The United States on Friday declared Pakistan-based HuJI as a foreign terrorist organisation and slapped sanctions on its commander Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, believed to have been in close contact with LeT operative David Headley, for their terrorist activities in India and Pakistan.
HuJI and Kashmiri have been involved in a series of terrorist activities in India, including the attack on a mosque in Hyderabad in 2007 that killed 16 people and the March 2007 Varanasi terrorist attacks that killed at least 25 people and left another 100 injured.
His name also cropped in 26/11 attacks case and Kashmiri is beileved to have been in close contact with David Headley, who has pleaded guilty to plotting the 26/11 attacks.
Simultaneously, the UN also announced similar sanctions against HUJI and Kashmiri at its headquarters in New York.
"Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri is at the core of HuJI's efforts to plan and carry out attacks against US forces and our allies. He is responsible for creating a cadre of militants to act on behalf of HUJI and Al Qaeda," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey.
"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," Levey said in a statement.
Today's action against Kashmiri was taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which freezes any assets Kashmiri has under US jurisdiction and prohibits US persons from engaging in any transactions with him.
"The United Nations also took similar actions against HUJI and Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri today," the US Department of Treasury said in a statement.
As HuJI commander, Kashmiri provides support to Al Qaeda operations, including logistical support for Al Qaeda's terrorist attacks, the Treasury said.
HuJI is also responsible for terrorist attacks in India, the Treasury said.
Kashmiri has supported attacks against Pakistani government personnel and facilities, including the 2009 attack against the offices of ISI and Pakistani police in Lahore that killed 23 people and left hundreds injured.
He directed the October 2008 assassination of the former commander of the Pakistani Special Services Group, General Amir Faisal Alvi, in retaliation for his role in the fight against militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
Kashmiri also led an Al Qaeda-linked cell in planning for the assassination of a Pakistani Army general – a plan that was eventually abandoned due to Al Qaeda's strategic considerations, the Treasury said.
Since 2001, Kashmiri has led HuJI training camps that specialised in terrorist operations, military tactics, and cross-border operations, including a militant training center in Miram Shah, North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
In January 2009, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois indicted Kashmiri for terrorism-related offenses in connection with a terrorist attack against the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark.
HuJI's area of operation extends throughout South Asia, with its terrorist operations focused primarily in India and Pakistan.
HuJI's relationship with Al Qaeda flourished after the Taliban's rise in Afghanistan.
"It has provided fighters for the Taliban in Afghanistan and training of HuJI members in Al Qaeda training camps.
"HuJI has carried out a number of terrorist attacks. In March 2006, HuJI was responsible for the suicide bombing of the US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, which killed four people and injured 48 others," the Treasury said. PTI
