WASHINGTON: The US State Department on Wednesday designated two ‘Pakistan-based’ militant groups with links to the Taliban as global terrorist threats.
A statement issued by US State Department said that as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorists,’ US citizens are forbidden from associating with the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and the Jamaat ul Dawa al-Qu’ran (JDQ).
It said any assets owned by the groups in places under US jurisdiction will be frozen, and US law enforcement will be authorised to investigate their activity. The State Department claimed that the TGG is linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and is based in Darra Adam Khel.
According to the statement, the Gidar group was responsible for the attack on Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar that killed over 150 people mostly children. The group is led by Umar Mansoor, who is said to also have ordered the January 2016 attack on a university in Charsadda that left more than 20 dead.
It also said the TGG was behind the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock.
The second group, the JDQ, is said to be based in Peshawar but has sworn allegiance to the late leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar. The JDQ also has alliances with Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the statement added.
The group has also been blamed for the 2010 kidnapping of British aid worker Linda **rgrove in Afghanistan. **rgrove died after being wounded in the explosion of a grenade thrown by a US Navy SEAL commando during a failed rescue attempt.
The United States will continue to work with regional partners to counter militant and terrorist networks, it added.
05-26-2016, 02:57 PM
US designates two ?Pakistan-based? militant groups to terror blacklist *
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