Mullah Fazlullah was elected commander of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in November 2013, following the death of former TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud. PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON: The US Department of State on Tuesday designated Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah, as a ‘global terrorist’.
Under Executive Order (EO) 13224, the TTP chief was sanctioned as ‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’ , a statement said on Tuesday.
As a result of the designation, US citizens are prohibited from engaging in transactions with Fazlullah, while all all property and interests of Mullah Fazlullah within United States, or under the control of US citizens will be frozen.
Mullah Fazlullah had succeeded Hakimullah Mehsud as the commander of TTP in November 2013.
Under the leadership of Fazlullah, TTP claimed responsibility for the December 16, 2014 attack on a school in Peshawar that resulted in the deaths of at least 148 people, mostly students.
US had designated the TTP as a foreign terrorist organisation and a specially designated global terrorist on September 1, 2010. TTP had also been included in the United Nations 1267/1989 al Qaeda Sanctions Committee on July 29, 2011.
Prior to becoming the leader of TTP, Fazlullah claimed he was behind the killing of Pakistani Army Major General Sanaullah Niazi in September 2013, as well as ordering the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012. He was also responsible for the beheading of 17 Pakistani soldiers after an attack in June 2012 and also ordered the targeted killings of elders who led peace committees against the Taliban.
Earlier, on January 5, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government announced a bounty worth $1 million for Fazlullah.
