Lashkar's Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil Designated Global Terrorist By US

A top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander active in Jammu and Kashmir, once captured in Iraq and handed over to Pakistani authorities, has been declared a specially designated global terrorist by the United States.

Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil, also known as Danish Ahmad, has been a close associate of 26/11 Mumbai attacks mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil has been designated a global terrorist to deny him to the resources to plan and carry out terrorist attacks, an announcement by the US Department of State said on Tuesday.

"The Department of State has designated Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons who have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of US nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States," the US Department of State statement said.

Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil was an operational leader for Lashkar's attacks in India between 1997 and 2001. 

In 2004, Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil was captured in Iraq by UK forces, then held in US custody in Iraq and Afghanistan until his transfer to Pakistan in 2014. After his release from Pakistani custody, Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil returned to work for Lashkar. In 2016, Dakhil was the Lashkar divisional commander for the Jammu region in Jammu and Kashmir. As of early 2018, Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil remained a senior commander in Lashkar, the US Department of State added.

The statement added, "Today's action notifies the US public and the international community that Abdul Rehman al-Dakhil has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism."

The US State Department also said that the designations of terrorist individuals and groups exposed and isolated organisations and individuals, and denied them access to the US financial system.