U.S. government adds Indian Mujahideen to terror blacklist

U.S. government adds Indian Mujahideen to terror blacklist

2011-09-15 21:27:04 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The U.S. government on Thursday said it has added the Indian Mujahideen (IM) to its official blacklist of a foreign terrorist organizations, the U.S. State Department said.

Little is known about the Indian Mujahideen who emerged a few years ago and have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, including last week's bomb blast outside the High Court in the Indian capital of New Delhi, killing 12 people and injuring more than 70 others.

According to the U.S. State Department, the Indian Mujahideen have been responsible for dozens of bomb attacks throughout India since 2005 and the deaths hundreds of lives.

"These designations highlight the threat posed by IM not only to Western interests, but to India, a close U.S. partner. The Indian populace has borne the brunt of IM's wanton violence and today's actions illustrate our solidarity with the Indian Government," stated Ambassador Daniel Benjamin. "These designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to abandon terrorism."

The consequences of the designations announced on Thursday includes a prohibition against knowingly providing material support or resources to, or engaging in other transactions with, the Indian Mujahideen, and the freezing of all property and interests in property of the organization that are in the United States, or come within the United States, or the control of U.S. persons.

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