The United States on Wednesday added the student wing of militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba to its list of “foreign terrorist organisations”. Al-Muhammadia Students, the student wing of the LeT, works with senior leaders of the organisation to recruit people and organise activities for the youth, the US State Department said, according to Reuters.
The State Department had designated LeT as a “terrorist organisation” in December 2001. However, the group has since repeatedly created fronts to avoid sanctions, said the Department. The AMS is now subjected to various penalties, and US citizens are banned from providing any material support to the student organisation. John E Smith, Acting Director Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the action was intended to expose the LeT’s operations and damage their financial network, PTI reported.
The US also added the names of two senior LeT leaders, Muhammad Sarwar and Shahid Mahmood, to the list of “specially designated global terrorists”. The State Department has banned US citizens from doing business with Sarwar and Mahmood, and their assets have also been frozen, Reuters reported. The two LeT leaders have been accused of raising and moving funds to support the militant outfit’s operations.
The LeT, which is based out of Pakistan and led by Hafiz Saeed, was responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attack that 166 people.
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