US designating Hizb a terror group unjustified: Pak

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday said it was disappointed over what it described as the “unjustified” decision by the US to designate the Hizbul Mujahideen as a foreign terrorist organisation.

The US took the action on Wednesday against the largest of the Kashmiri militant groups fighting in Jam mu and Kashmir, a little less than two months after it designated Pakistan-based Hizb chief Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist.

“We are disappointed (with the US decision) in view of the fact that Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute,” foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria told a news briefing in Islamabad.

“The designation of individuals or groups supporting the Kashmiri right to self-determination as terrorists is completely unjustified,” he said.

Zakaria said the US decision did not take into account “the 70-year struggle of Kashmiris”.