Pakistan militant group gains US terrorist label

The notorious Pakistani militant group Lashkar I Jhangvi and its co-founder both made the United States' official roster of global terrorists Thursday. The U.S. State Department announced that the Lashkar founder Malik Ishaq had been declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, which freezes his assets in the United States and prohibits Americans from doing any business with him or his organization. Ishaq was arrested by Pakistani authorities last year and admitted to investigators that he and his organization, known by Western counter-terrorism officials as "LJ," were behind a pair of terrorist bombings in the city of Quetta in early 2013 that killed nearly 200 civilians. "LJ specializes in armed attacks and bombings and has admitted responsibility for numerous killings of Shia religious and civil society leaders in Pakistan," the State Department said in a written announcement. Lashkar I Jhangvi itself was given the separate designation of Foreign Terrorist Organization, which also froze its assets and banned Americans from providing any assistance or support to it.