Pakistan Terrorists Designated

Three terrorists wanted by authorities in Pakistan have been added to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's list of designated terrorists. Two of Pakistan's most wanted terrorists, Amanullah Afridi, a senior leader of the Lashkar-e Jhangvi terrorist organization, and Mati ur-Rehman, the organization's chief operational commander, were designated by the Treasury Department on December 2nd. Also designated was Abdul Rauf Azhar, a senior leader of the Jaish-e Mohammed terrorist group.

Lashkar-e Jhangvi and Jaish-e Mohammed are both Pakistan-based terrorist organizations. Lashkar-e Jhangvi has conducted numerous attacks in Pakistan and is the group responsible for the January 2002 kidnapping and killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Jaish-e Mohammed has conducted terrorist attacks in India and Afghanistan.

Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said these two groups are "responsible for deadly attacks against innocent civilians in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India." All three of the designated terrorists, he said, "are actively involved in leading or planning operations on behalf of these dangerous terrorist organizations."

Since November 2009, Amanullah Afridi has been involved in numerous terrorist activities in Pakistan. He has prepared and provided suicide jackets for al-Qaida terrorist attacks, trained suicide bombers and trained the assassin of Pakistani Muslim cleric Allama Hassan Turabi.

Mati ur-Rehman is the chief operational commander of of Lashkar-e Jhangvi and has also worked on behalf of al-Qaida. In September 2009 he was identified as planning director for al-Qaida and was linked to the August 2006 plot to destroy U.S.-bound British aircraft. As a leader of Lashkar-e Jhangvi, Rehman has been involved in multiple terrorist activities. He has led militants seeking to carry out attacks in Pakistan and was involved with a militant training camp in Pakistan. Rehman has also been implicated in plots or attacks against a former Pakistani president, a former Pakistani prime minister, and the U.S. consulate in Karachi.

Abdul Rauf Azhar has urged Pakistanis to engage in militant activities. He has served as Jaish-e Mohammed's acting leader in 2007, as one of the group's most senior commanders in India, and as the group's intelligence coordinator. In 2008 Azhar was assigned to organize suicide attacks in India. He was also with terrorist training camps.

By designating these wanted terrorists, the U.S. is acting on its commitment to help deny financial support to terrorist groups and work with its international partners to apply the rule of law to terrorists.