United Nations: The Resistance Front (TRF) had twice claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack and “published a photograph of the attack site”, the UN Security Council’s sanctions monitoring team has said.
The team in a 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 here on Tuesday, mentions 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”.
Notably, the report also cited assertions that the attack would not have been possible without the support of LeT.
This marks the first mention of LeT in the report since 2019.
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, mentions the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 civilians were killed.
It said that “five terrorists attacked a tourist spot in Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir”.
“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. It was submitted to the 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
It pointed out 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.
It 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.” This month, the US listed TRF as a designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
Earlier, the UN Security Council had strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and underscored the need to hold the perpetrators, organisers, and the 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. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told the Indian Parliament on Monday 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. The strikes triggered a four-day conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, which ended after the Pakistani military requested for a ceasefire on May 10.
