Pakistani Foreign Minister openly backs TRF days after US designates it as FTO
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has triggered a row by saying that terror organisation The Resistance Front (TRF), which claimed responsibility for the attack in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, was not illegal.
The TRF is a proxy of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Dar made the remarks just days after the US designated it as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.
"We opposed the mention of TRF in the UNSC statement. I got calls from global capitals, but Pakistan will not accept," Dar was quoted as saying by the media.
Openly backing the group, he said: "We don't consider TRF illegal. Show us proof they carried out the Pahalgam attack."
The US Department of State on Thursday designated Pakistan's proxy terror outfit The Resistance Front (TRF), the group that claimed responsibility for the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22, as a foreign terrorist organisation.
In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: "Today, the Department of State is adding The Resistance Front (TRF) as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). "
Rubio acknowledged TRF, a Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) front and proxy, claimed responsibility for the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack which killed 26 civilians.
Pak Deputy PM Ishaq Dar rejected TRF involvement in the Pahalgam attack and said :
— OsintTV 📺 (@OsintTV) July 18, 2025
'Alhamdulillah we are the non permanent member of UNSC.....we don't consider TRF as illegal...show the evidence that TRF has carried out the Pahalgam attack or show the ownership of TRF... We… pic.twitter.com/qLwDAC4zVy
"This was the deadliest attack on civilians in India since the 2008 Mumbai attacks conducted by LeT," he said.
TRF has also claimed responsibility for several attacks against Indian security forces, including most recently in 2024.
Rubio said the action take against the TRF demonstrates the Trump administration’s commitment to protect national security interests, countering terrorism, and enforcing the US President’s call for justice for the Pahalgam attack.
"TRF and other associated aliases have been added to LeT’s designation as a 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" TRF said in the statement.
