US, UN blacklist Ilyas Kashmiri, HuJI

The US in conjunction with the United Nations has designated al-Qaeda-linked HuJI as a foreign terrorist organisation and slapped sanctions on its commander Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri, who was close to 26/11 plotter David Headley, for carrying out terror activities in India and Pakistan.

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and Kashmiri have been involved in a series of terrorist activities in India, including the attack on the Hyderabad mosque in 2007 that killed 16 people and the March 2007 Varanasi terrorist strike that left at least 25 people dead and another 100 injured.

Kashmiri's name also cropped in 26/11 and he was in close contact with Headley, who has confessed to his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans.

While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated HuJI as a foreign terrorist organisation, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner slapped sanctions on Kashmiri.

Simultaneously, the UN also announced a similar sanction against HuJI and Kashmiri at its headquarters in New York.

"The joint State and Treasury Department actions taken on Saturday, in conjunction with the United Nation's listing, illustrates the international community's resolve to counter the threat posed by HuJI and its leader Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri," Daniel Benjamin, State Department's Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, said last evening.

"Linkages between HuJI and al-Qaeda are clear, and today's designations convey the operational relationship between these organisations," Benjamin said.

These actions were taken in consultation with the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice.

"Mohammad Ilyas Kashmiri is at the core of HuJI's efforts to plan and carry out attacks against US forces and our allies. He is responsible for creating a cadre of militants to act on behalf of HuJI and al-Qaeda," said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey.