The US today designated Ansar-ul-Ummah, a frontal organisation of the banned Harakat ul-Mujahideen (HuM), which aims at annexing Kashmir into Pakistan a global terrorist organisation.
After a thorough review, the US has also decided to retain the global terrorist organisation status of HuM, which was slapped with the American sanction in 1997.
Based out of Pakistan, HuM wants to annex Kashmir into Pakistan and poses a direct risk to the US, Afghan and the allied interests in Afghanistan, the State Department said in a statement.
The group engages in terrorist activities in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; its membership composes an estimated several hundred armed supporters, it said.
HuM also operates terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan and has conducted a number of operations against Indian troops and civilian targets in the Kashmir region.
In 2005, its attacks in Kashmir killed at least 15 people, and two years later Indian troops were killed in a firefight with HuM militants in the area.
In 2013, three individuals, alleged to have trained in HUM camps in 2009, were convicted of terror charges by a British court.
In 1997, the Department of State designated HuM as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. Since then it has repeatedly changed its name in an effort to avoid sanctions.
Recently, HuM created Ansar-ul-Ummah and claimed that the organisation was formed to preach Islam, politics, and social work, the State Department said.
