United States terror tag on TRF exposes Pakistan’s proxy network in Kashmir

WASHINGTON: In a blow to Pakistan's policy of employing terror as a tool of its regional policy for decades, the US State Department officially designated The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).

This decision validates what India has long claimed, that TRF is not an indigenous militant group, but a proxy for the Pakistan-based jihadi organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which was established to cover up Pakistan's continued patronisation of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

The US designation follows the ghastly April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack in which 26 Hindu pilgrims were massacred following religio-based segregation by the terrorists. It was the worst attack on Indian civilians since the 2008 Mumbai attacks, incidentally also mounted by LeT under the broader tutelage of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as a growing body of evidence has substantiated since.

When the TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam massacre, it was a grim reminder of Islamabad’s unaltered terror playbook of decades that has seen it patronise groups to mount an asymmetric proxy war in Kashmir.

India welcomed the U.S. move, calling it “a timely and important step reflecting the deep cooperation between India and the United States on counter-terrorism.” In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs emphasised that “India remains committed to a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism and will continue to work closely with its international partners to ensure that terrorist organisations and their proxies are held accountable.”

The Resistance Front is not a spontaneous insurgent movement. It is a repackaged extension of LeT, launched in 2019 as global scrutiny tightened around Pakistan's state-sponsored terror ecosystem. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had grey-listed Islamabad in 2018, citing its failure to clamp down on financing for groups like LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Under international pressure, Pakistan sought to cloak its support for jihadist organisations in a local garb. Thus, TRF was born as the latest attempt to give LeT’s radical Islamist violence a territorial and “indigenous” facelift.

Likewise, JeM also rechristened itself and created its own proxy called People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAAF), which has also engaged in dozens of terrorist acts across Jammu and Kashmir.

TRF’s rhetoric attempted to depart from the overtly Islamist discourse of LeT, presenting instead a façade of Kashmiri nationalism. But this branding exercise was superficial. Intelligence reports have consistently revealed that TRF receives logistical, operational, and financial backing from LeT leadership operating freely in Pakistan, under the tacit protection of the Pakistani state. (ANI)

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