New Delhi: The Resistance Front, a proxy for the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, has found mention for its role in the Pahalgam attack in a UN Security Council (UNSC) report that is expected to bolster India’s position against Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.
The report by the UNSC’s Monitoring Team (MT) quoted one unnamed member state as saying that the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir could not have happened without Lashkar-e-Taiba’s (LeT) support and that there was a relationship between LeT and The Resistance Front (TRF).
The development is significant as all decisions of the UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee, including reports, are adopted by consensus by members of the top body of the UN, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The Pakistan foreign minister boasted in the Pakistan National Assembly about forcing the removal of references to TRF in the UNSC press statement condemning the Pahalgam attack, they recalled.
The mention of the TRF in the MT report is how the world views Pakistan’s lies and deceitful narrative, the people said on condition of anonymity.
The MT report said 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.
The report also noted that TRF retracted the claim April 26, and there was no further communication from it, adding that no other group claimed the responsibility.
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.
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.
The member state, which claimed that LeT was defunct, largely appears to be Pakistan.
The UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee is tasked to implement sanctions against terrorists, terror groups, and entities.
The April 22 Pahalgam attack left 26 civilians dead.
PTI