WASHINGTON – The State Department is putting al-Qaida's branch in the Indian subcontinent on its list of foreign terrorist groups.
Thursday's action bans Americans from engaging in transactions with the group or its leader, Asim Umar, and freezes any assets the group has within U.S. jurisdiction. It also prohibits people from knowingly providing support to the group.
Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri formed al-Qaida in the Indian subcontinent in a video address in September 2014.
The group claimed responsibility for the Sept. 6, 2014, attack on a naval dockyard in Karachi, Pakistan, in which militants attempted to hijack a Pakistani Navy frigate. It also claimed responsibility for the 2015 killing of activists and writers in Bangladesh, including U.S. citizen Avijit Roy, a local U.S. embassy employee, and three Bangladeshi nationals.
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