Diplomatic victory for India? TRF named in key UNSC report; published Pahalgam attack site photo, claimed responsibility twice
UN Security Council
1267 Sanctions Committee.
According to government sources, the report explicitly recorded the involvement of The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy outfit of LeT, in the Pahalgam terror attack of 22 April which claimed 26 lives.
"The paragraph on TRF and the Pahalgam terror attack is the first part under the South Asia Section and the largest. It is in sync with what we have been stating on the links between the TRF and the LeT and its support from Pakistan," sources said.
This also marks the first mention of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in the report since 2019.
What the report says
According to the UN report, TRF had twice claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam terror attack and 'published a photograph of the attack site.'
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 attack was claimed that same day by The Resistance Front (TRF), who in parallel published a photograph of the attack site,' said the report, which was submitted to the 1267 ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaeda sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
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The report said 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.
The report 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."
Why it matters?
This is a major diplomatic victory for India as all decisions of the 1267 Sanctions Committee, including MT reports, are adopted by consensus by the members of the Security Council.
"The mention of the TRF in the MT Report is how the world views Pakistan's lies and deceitful narrative. 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/JeM and give an indigenous appearance to its terrorist activities in Jammu & Kashmir — now stands punctured," sources said.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had earlier boasted in the Parliament about forcing the removal of references to TRF in the UNSC press statement condemning the Pahalgam attack.
This comes after India provided detailed input on TRF and other Pakistan-sponsored terror proxies to the MT since December 2023.
"In 2024, on two occasions, MEA had provided inputs to the MT on the activities of the TRF and its linkages to the LeT.
An MEA-led inter-ministerial delegation briefed the MT and other senior UN officials in New York in May 2024 and also shared a dossier on TRF," sources said.
"Resident Missions in New Delhi and Indian Missions in key capitals ensured sustained follow-up, backed by parliamentary delegations raising TRF's role in interactions abroad," they added.
Earlier in July, US designated TRF a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
Highlighting TRF's involvement in multiple attacks against India, including the deadly Pahalgam attack, the State Department said the decision reflected the Trump administration's "commitment to protecting US national security, countering terrorism, and enforcing President Trump's call for justice following the Pahalgam attack".
The Resistance Front was formed in 2019 as a proxy of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and was banned by india in 2023.
It has been actively involved in recruiting youth online, facilitating the infiltration of terrorists, and smuggling weapons and narcotics from Pakistan into Jammu and Kashmir.
TRF had also claimed responsibility for several attacks targeting civilians, political leaders, and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir. Its founder and commander, Sheikh Sajjad Gul, has been designated a terrorist under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
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The investigation into the Pahalgam attack, handled by the NIA, was massive in scale, involving statements from over 1,055 people and more than 3,000 hours of interrogation. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
