Mohali (Punjab) [India], July 18 (ANI): Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon (Retd) on Friday welcomed the decision of the United States to designate Resistance Front (TRF)-an offshoot of Pakistan based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that initially claimed responsibility for the April 22 terror attack that killed 26 people as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

Dhillon, who was the Corps commander in Kashmir from 2019 to 2020, noted that the Resistance Front (TRF) emerged as an online organisation during that period.

'This is the first time during that period that this name came to the fore. TRF is nothing but a front of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Since Lashkar-e-Taiba was getting internationally banned, that is when they came out with this TRF...Initially, this came up as an online name which subsequently started claiming all the terrorist actions of Lashkar-e-Taiba, including the Pahalgam attack...,' Dhillon told ANI.

'It is a very welcome step that it has been designated as a terrorist organisation and designated as a foreign terrorist organisation, and Pakistan now should be designated as a terrorist state...'

This comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement, acknowledged that TRF under US anti-terrorism laws, had claimed responsibility for the Pahalagam terror attack, and in light of this, it accorded the group the status of FTO and SDGT.

TRF, a proxy of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), was the group that claimed responsibility for the killing of 26 people, mostly tourists, in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir and triggered the four-day military escalation between India and Pakistan in the coming two weeks.

The US noted this was the deadliest civilian attack in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, also carried out by LeT. The decision, the US government stated, underscored the Trump administration's ongoing commitment to global counter-terrorism.

'These actions taken by the Department of State demonstrate 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 in the statement.

'TRF and other associated aliases have been added to LeT's designation as an FTO and SDGT pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and Executive Order 13224, respectively. The Department of State has also reviewed and maintained the FTO designation of LeT. Amendments to FTO designations go into effect upon publication in the Federal Register,' the statement further added.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday expressed its appreciation for the US Department of State's decision to designate The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), describing it as a significant step in the global fight against terrorism.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) acknowledged and appreciated the leadership of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the decision.

'The Government of India welcomes the decision of the United States Department of State to designate The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). We acknowledge and appreciate the leadership of Secretary of State Mr. Marco Rubio in this regard,' the statement read.

'The TRF, a proxy of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), has been involved in numerous terror-related activities, including the heinous attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on 22 April 2025, for which it twice claimed responsibility,' it added. (ANI)