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U.S. Designates Pakistani 'Charity' As Foreign Terror Group


Hafiz Saeed, head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organisation and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Hafiz Saeed, head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa organisation and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The U.S. State Department has designated a self-proclaimed Pakistani charity organization as a "foreign terrorist organization."

The State Department said Jamaat-ud-Dawa claims to be a humanitarian charity but is really a front organization for the Lashkar-e Taiba (LET) terrorist organization.

The designation freezes any assets the group has under U.S. jurisdiction.

LET is accused of carrying out attacks in India, including the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people.

The United Nations said in 2008 that Jamaat-ud-Dawa was a front for LET. Pakistani authorities at that time vowed to crack down on the organization.

Yahya Mujahid, a spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, said his group is a "welfare organization working for the people of Pakistan" and added, "We have nothing to do with LET or terrorism."

Based on reporting by Reuters and the Press Trust of India
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