US blacklists two Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders as 'global terrorists'

WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday designated the finance chief and a senior public relations official of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as "global terrorists," placing tight economic sanctions on the two.

The US Treasury said Nazir Ahmad Chaudhry, one of the two hit with sanctions, has been a senior leader and strategist for LeT since the early 2000s, while the second, Muhammad Hussein Gill, is an LeT founder and its chief financial officer.

Both were labeled "specially designated global terrorists," freezing any assets they might have in US jurisdiction and banning Americans from any transactions with the two.

"We will continue to target LeT's financial foundation to disrupt and impede its violent activities," said David Cohen, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

LeT, already officially named a "foreign terrorist organisation" by the US government, has been blamed for attacks on India and Indian forces in the Indian Kashmir region since the early 1990s.

It also was blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that left 166 people dead. The group has denied responsibility.

More recently, LeT was blamed for an attack last month on an Indian diplomatic mission in Herat, Afghanistan that left two policemen wounded. But the group subsequently denied any involvement in that attack.

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