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New Delhi: In a big diplomatic win for India, a UN Security Council (UNSC) report has mentioned The Resistance Front (TRF), the terror group that was behind the April 22 Pahalgam attack. TRF, a proxy for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, claimed the responsibility for the attack that left 26 innocent people dead.
The UNSC's Monitoring Team (MT) report quoted a member state as saying that the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir was not possible without the support of Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT and the TRF. This marks the first mention of LeT and Pakistan-based terror groups in the report since 2019. The report further stated that TRF had published a photo of the Pahalgam site where the terror attack was carried out.
The MT report also noted that five terrorists carried out the Pahalgam attack. "The attack was claimed that same day by The Resistance Front (TRF), which in parallel published a photograph of the attack site. The claim of responsibility was repeated the following day," it said.
"Regional relations remain fragile. There is a risk that terrorist groups may exploit these regional tensions. One member State said the attack could not have happened without LeT's support, and that there was a relationship between LeT and TRF," the report stated. "Another member state said the 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. Apparently, Pakistan was the member state which claimed that LeT was defunct.
What this means for India
The report assumes significance as India is seeking to get TRF sanctioned by the UNSC. Notably, all decisions of the UNSC's 1267 Sanctions Committee, including MT reports, are adopted by consensus by members of the UN's top body. The UNSC's 1267 Sanctions Committee implements sanctions against terrorists, terror groups, and entities.
Earlier, Pakistan foreign minister had gloated in the Pakistan National Assembly that they got references to TRF removed from the UNSC press statement condemning the Pahalgam attack.
"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.
The inclusion of TRF in the report despite Pakistan’s efforts for its removal highlights Pakistan’s undeniable involvement in fomenting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the sources added.
