 Sanjay Pandita
Early Times Report
Jammu, July 30: A recent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report has confirmed India’s long-standing allegations of Pakistan’s involvement in funding and supporting terrorism, specifically linking The Resistance Front (TRF) to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the deadly Pahalgam terror attack. The attack, which occurred on April 22, 2025, in Jammu and Kashmir, claimed the lives of 26 civilians and shocked the nation.
The UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee Monitoring Team report revealed that TRF, a proxy outfit of LeT, claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack not once but twice, even publishing a photograph of the attack site on the same day.
The report explicitly stated that the attack, carried out by five terrorists targeting a popular tourist spot, “could not have happened without Lashkar-e-Taiba’s support,” with one member state asserting that TRF and LeT are synonymous. This marks the first time since 2019 that a Pakistan-based terror group has been named in a UNSC report, highlighting the deep ties between TRF and LeT.
Despite TRF retracting its claim on April 26, the UNSC report’s findings bolster India’s position that Pakistan continues to fund and orchestrate cross-border terrorism. Indian officials have long accused Pakistan of using proxy groups like TRF to evade international scrutiny, a strategy that the report now exposes.
“Pakistan’s strategy of plausible deniability, using secular-sounding names like The Resistance Front to mask its terrorist activities, now stands punctured,” a government source said. The report’s release comes despite Pakistan’s efforts to suppress references to TRF in earlier UNSC statements. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had previously boasted in t The UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee Monitoring Team report revealed that TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack not once but twice.
The report explicitly stated that the attack, carried out by five terrorists targeting a popular tourist spot, “could not have happened without Lashkar-e-Taiba’s support,”
This marks the first time since 2019 that a Pakistan-based terror group has been named in a UNSC report, highlighting the deep ties between TRF and LeT.
The UNSC report’s findings bolster India’s position that Pakistan continues to fund and orchestrate cross-border terrorism.
India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized the significance of the report, stating, “The UNSC’s recognition of TRF’s role and its links to Lashkar-e-Taiba vindicates India’s consistent warnings about Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.” He noted that India’s diplomatic efforts, including briefings to the UN in May 2024, played a key role in securing this acknowledgment.
The United States further strengthened this stance by designating TRF as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) on July 17, 2025, citing its ties to LeT. The US move, coupled with the UNSC report, has been hailed as a diplomatic victory for India, which has been pushing for TRF’s inclusion on the UNSC 1267 sanctions list.
The Pahalgam attack triggered a strong Indian response, with the launch of Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The operation led to a four-day conflict, ending with a ceasefire on May 10, 2025, after Pakistan’s military requested de-escalation.
The UNSC report underscores the fragility of regional relations and the risk of terrorist groups exploiting these tensions. While one member state—presumably Pakistan—claimed LeT was “defunct,” the overwhelming evidence presented by India and other nations paints a starkly different picture. As the international community takes note, the pressure is mounting on Pakistan to address its role in fostering terrorism, a charge it has repeatedly denied. |
