US lauds India’s decision to declare Masood Azhar, 3 others as terrorists

Washington: The United States on Thursday said that it “commends” India after Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and two others were declared terrorists on Wednesday under a new anti-terror law.

Alice Wells, the Acting Assistant Secretary of US department tweeted, “We stand w/ #India & commend it for utilising new legal authorities to designate 4 notorious terrorists: Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi & Dawood Ibrahim. This new law expands possibilities for joint #USIndia efforts to combat scourge of terrorism."

The Indian government made the announcement nearly a month after Parliament approved an amendment to The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment or UAPA Act, 1967.

While Hafiz Saeed was the brains behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, Masood Azhar was responsible for the recent Pulwama attack as well as the 2001 attack on Parliament.