US sanctions Kashmiri group Hizbul Mujahideen

Moves comes two months after State Department declared Syed Salahuddin a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist'

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday said it had sanctioned Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest of the anti-Indian Kashmiri groups engaged in conflict in the divided Himalayan territory.

In a statement on its website, the US Treasury Department said it had listed the group as a counter-designated group, freezing any assets it may hold in the United States and prohibiting Americans from any dealings with it.

"These designations seek to deny HM (Hizbul Mujahideen) the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks," the US State Department said in a separate statement.

.@StateDeptCT has designated Hizbul Mujahideen - also known as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen & HM - as a Foreign Terrorist Org. https://t.co/Z9eL3kEGpt

— Department of State (@StateDept) August 16, 2017

In announcing the designation, the State Department said the group had claimed responsibility for several attacks, including one in 2014 in Jammu and Kashmir that left 17 people injured.

The move came two months after the State Department declared the group’s chief Syed Salahuddin a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist”.

In reaction, the Foreign Office had said “the designation of individuals supporting the Kashmiri right to self-determination as terrorists is completely unjustified.”