UNSC report links The Resistance Front to Pahalgam attack. What it means? Why is it a diplomatic win for India?


The Resistance Front, a proxy of Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has found a mention in a UN Security Council (UNSC) report monitoring sanctions on terror outfits for its role in the Pahalgam attack. The move is expected to bolster India’s diplomatic offensive against Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.

The report by the UNSC’s Monitoring Team (MT) quoted one unnamed member state as saying that the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir could not have happened without LeT’s support and that there was a relationship between “LeT and The Resistance Front (TRF).

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The report for the UNSC’s 1267 committee that deals with sanctions on al-Qaeda and the Islamic State linked the TRF to the Pahalgam attack and cautioned that the terrorist groups could exploit tensions between India and Pakistan.

“On 22 April, five terrorists attacked a tourist spot in Pahalgam, in Jammu and Kashmir. Twenty-six civilians were killed. The attack was claimed that same day by Global-terrorists-over-pahalgam-attack-11752786436383.html” data-vars-page-type=”story” data-vars-link-type=”Manual”>The Resistance Front (TRF), who in parallel published a photograph of the attack site,” the report said, according to news agency PTI.

Twenty-six civilians were killed in the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir, after which India retaliated through precision strikes under Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK).

“The claim of responsibility 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. Regional relations remain fragile. There is a risk that terrorist groups may exploit these regional tensions,” it said.

Why is the mention significant for India?

This is the first time that the TRF has been mentioned in any UN document. In the past, Pakistan stymied India’s consistent efforts to name the TRF in the UNSC statements.

Also Read | ‘No objection’: Ishaq Dar shifts stance on US designating TRF as terror group

It comes days after the United States on July 17) designated The Resistance Front (TRF) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), citing its role in the April 22 Pahalgam

The development also assumes significance as all decisions of the UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee, including reports, are adopted by consensus by the members of the top body of the UN, according to the sources.

Pakistan is a non-permanent member of the UNSC.

After Operation Sindoor, which followed the Pahalgam attack, India had reached out to most of the UNSC member countries — permanent and non-permanent members – with multi-party political delegations visiting these countries in May-June.

Speaking in the National Assembly recently, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar talked about forcing the removal of references to the TRF in the UNSC press statement condemning the Pahalgam attack.

The latest mention of the TRF in the MT report is how the world views Pakistan’s “lies and deceitful narrative”, according to the sources.

The report quoted another member state as saying that the Pahalgam attack was carried out by TRF, which was “synonymous with LeT”. “One member state rejected these views and said that LeT was defunct,” it said. The member state which claimed that LeT was defunct largely appears to be Pakistan.

The UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee is tasked with implementing sanctions against terrorists, terror groups, and entities.

‘Islamabad’s undeniable involvement’

The inclusion of TRF in the MT report despite Pakistan’s efforts highlights Islamabad’s undeniable involvement in fomenting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, according to sources quoted by the Indian Express.

Pakistan’s strategy of plausible deniability, using secular and modern names like “The Resistance Front” and “People Against Fascist Front” for its jihadi proxies to divert attention from LeT and JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) terror groups and give an indigenous appearance to its terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir — now stands “punctured,” sources said.

Also Read | All 3 terrorists involved in Pahalgam attack killed: Amit Shah in LS

This also marks the first mention of the LeT and Pakistan-based terror groups in the report since 2019.

“The inclusion of TRF in the MT report despite Pakistan’s efforts for its removal highlights Pakistan’s undeniable involvement in fomenting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,” said a source quoted by the news agency.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and Pakistan’s apparent freind did not block the references to TRF or LeT in the UN report, the agency report said,

The latest mention of the TRF in the MT report is how the world views Pakistan’s ‘lies and deceitful narrative.’

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said in Lok Sabha that the three terrorists killed in Operation Mahadev in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday were those who carried out the Pahalgam strike.



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