US govt says terrorist designation of Hizbul Mujahideen, Pakistan Taliban cannot be revoked

The US government has rejected the possibility of revoking the designation of Pakistan-based terror groups as global terrorist organisations.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conducted a review of terror groups like Hizbul Mujahideen and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. Blinken said that the circumstances which led to these groups' designation as Foreign Terrorist Organisations have not changed.

USA's national security does not warrant revocation of the designation of these groups, the Biden administration said.

Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was designated as a terrorist organisation by the US on 1 September 2010. It also identified its leaders Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali ur-Rehman as specially designated global terrorists.

TTP, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, is an umbrella organisation of various Islamist armed terrorist groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani border. Formed in 2007, the group shares a common ideology with the Afghan Taliban and assisted them in the 2001–2021 war.

Based out of Pakistan, Kashmir-centric Hizbul Mujahideen has been designated as a global terrorist organisation by the US, Canada, India and the European Union.

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