A UN Security Council’s sanctions monitoring report on Wednesday said that the Resistance Front (TRF) had twice claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack and “published a photograph of the attack site”.
The team in the report also cited assertions that the attack could not have happened without the support of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT).
The 36th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaeda and associated individuals and entities, released on Tuesday, mentioned the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed, saying "five terrorists attacked a tourist spot in Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Pahalgam attack was claimed by TRF
“The attack was claimed that same day by The Resistance Front (TRF), who in parallel published a photograph of the attack site,” said the report, which was submitted to the 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
The report further stated that the “claim of responsibility” by TRF was “repeated the following day. On 26 April, however, TRF retracted its claim. There was no further communication from TRF, and no other group claimed responsibility,” it said.
Attack was carried out by TRF, which was synonymous with LeT
The report cited a member state which said that “the attack could not have happened without Lashkar-e-Taiba support, and that there was a relationship between LeT and TRF. Another member state said that the attack was carried out by TRF, which was synonymous with LeT."
It also noted that one member state “rejected" these views and said that LeT was “defunct”.
The report added that regional relations remain fragile. “There is a risk that terrorist groups may exploit these regional tensions.”
https://getapi.indiatvnews.com/doc/monitoring-committee-report.pdf
US lists TRF as designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation
This month, the US listed TRF as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
After the Pahalgam attack, the 15-nation Security Council had on April 25 issued a press statement, underlining the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of the reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.
However, the statement did not mention TRF as the group responsible for the attack after Pakistan managed to get the name removed.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in the Indian Parliament that when the Security Council was discussing the press statement, Pakistan tried to get any mention of TRF excluded.
India had launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack.
Significance of TRF’s inclusion in MT Report
This development is particularly notable as all decisions of the 1267 Sanctions Committee, including MT reports, are adopted by consensus by the members of the Security Council.
The Foreign Minister of Pakistan had earlier boasted in the Pakistan National Assembly about forcing the removal of references to TRF in the UNSC press statement condemning the Pahalgam attack. The mention of the TRF in the MT Report is how the world views Pakistan’s lies and deceitful narrative.
Pakistan’s strategy of plausible deniability — using secular and modern names like “The Resistance Front” and “People Against Fascist Front” for its jihadi proxies to divert attention from LeT/JeM and give an indigenous appearance to its terrorist activities in Jammu & Kashmir — now stands punctured.
This also marks the first mention of LeT/Pakistan-based terror groups in the report since 2019.
The inclusion of TRF in the MT Report despite Pakistan’s efforts for its removal highlights Pakistan’s undeniable involvement in fomenting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. It also attests to our credibility in the UN on the CT front.
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