ISLAMABAD: The United States placed Pakistan's Milli Muslim League political party on its list of foreign terrorist organisations on Monday, linking it with militants that the United States and India blame for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. Milli Muslim League and Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir were created last year and are linked to Hafiz Saeed, a Pakistan-based U.S.-designated global terrorist and leader of LeT. Saeed is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or Army of the Pure, which is also on the U.S. terrorist list and blamed by the United States and India for a four-day militant attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008 in which 166 people were killed. Following the designations, the finances to the organization have been denied to stop it from carrying out further terrorist attacks. According to the Treasury Department's website, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker said: “Treasury is targeting the Milli Muslim League and a group of seven global terrorists who are complicit in Lashkar-e Tayyiba’s attempts to undermine Pakistan’s political process.”



"We will continue to target terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e Tayyiba, even when they attempt to cloak themselves as political parties or hide their extremism behind other facades. "These designations seek to deny LeT the resources it needs to plan and carry out further terrorist attacks," the State Department said, adding that the groups' property subject to U.S. jurisdiction had been blocked and U.S. persons were prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them. He said, “Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence.” The mentioned designations by the US come just a few days before Pakistan was about to go to elections. The US Department of State on Tuesday brought amendments to the designation of Pakistan-based banned terrorist organization Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT) and also included Tehreek-e- Azadi-e Kashmir (TAJK) under the list of terror organisation. Pakistan’s Election Commission had barred MML from contesting the elections, but the Islamabad High Court had ruled out all terror links with MML and had ordered the EC to register the party.
The United States designates the Milli Muslim League and Tehreek-e-Azaadi Jammu and Kashmir, both Pakistani groups, as terrorist organisations.