Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar ignited outrage after publicly defending The Resistance Front (TRF), a group officially designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, during an address in the country’s Parliament.
In a speech that has since gone viral, Dar revealed that Pakistan, in its capacity as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC), actively intervened to prevent TRF—widely considered a front for the Pakistan-headquartered Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—from being named in the UNSC’s condemnation of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 civilian lives.
Dar openly admitted to lobbying against the inclusion of TRF in the UN statement, characterising acts of terrorism as “resistance” and extending diplomatic protection to LeT-affiliated operatives.
“We opposed the mention of TRF in the UNSC statement. I got calls from global capitals, but Pakistan will not accept,” he said. “TRF was deleted, and Pakistan prevailed.”
He further stated, “We don’t consider TRF an illegal organisation. Show us evidence that they executed the Pahalgam attack. Show ownership by TRF. We won’t accept the allegation, and TRF had to be deleted from the UN press release.”
US FTO Tag
His remarks came just days after the U.S. officially designated TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT).
The announcement, issued by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, described TRF as a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Rubio’s statement explicitly linked TRF to the April 22 Pahalgam massacre, calling it “the deadliest assault on civilians in India since 2008.”
The U.S. designation, which also includes TRF’s aliases, significantly broadens legal and financial restrictions on the LeT’s extended network.
“These actions demonstrate the Trump administration’s commitment to protecting our national security interests and seeking justice for victims of terrorism,” Rubio noted.
TRF has a known history of launching coordinated attacks in India, especially targeting military personnel and infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir. Multiple intelligence reports from both Indian and American agencies have flagged the group’s close operational and funding ties to Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The U.S. terror designation came amid growing international pressure.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ summit, called for a global “zero-tolerance” stance on terrorism.
(With inputs from IBNS)
