The United Nations has declared Masood Azhar, head of the Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, a global terrorist on India’s request.
He is listed under the UN resolution 1267, which covers the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the Al-Qaida, and their associates.
Azhar and his organisation have been involved in several terrorist attacks on Indian soil, such as the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, the Pathankot terror attack, and most recently, the Pulwama attack, in which 44 CRPF personnel were killed by a suicide bomber.
China, a permanent member of the UN security council, had been blocking India’s attempt to label Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. It has now lifted its objections.
The UN Security Council’s consolidated list of global terrorists and terrorist organisations is over 170 pages long. You can find it here.
The Quint lists the 7 most infamous terrorists, who, like Azhar, belong on this list:
1. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – The leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), formerly a member of the Al-Qaida. Declared himself ‘caliph’ in Mosul in 2014. Currently believed to be hiding in the Syrian Desert.
2. Ayman al-Zawahiri – The current leader of the Al-Qaida and the successor of the infamous Osama bin Laden. Formerly the head of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Believed to be in the Afghanistan/Pakistan border area.
3. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed – The head of the terrorist group Jama'at ud Da'wah and the co-founder of Lashkar e Taiba. Believed to be one of the masterminds behind the 2008 Mumbai Attacks.
4. Sirajuddin Haqqani – The leader of the Haqqani Network, a group which specialises in guerrilla warfare and is affiliated with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Currently believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
5. Abubakar Shekau – The head of the Nigeria-based Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which was responsible for the abduction of 276 Nigerian schoolgirls in 2014. Boko Haram is also known as the Islamic State in West Africa.
6. Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi – The co-founder and leader of the Lashkar e-Taiba, operating chiefly in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Also believed to be one of the masterminds behind the 2008 Mumbai Attacks.
7. Abu Muhammad al-Julani – The commander in chief of the Syrian affiliate of Al-Qaida, Tahrir al-Sham, which was formerly the al-Nusra Front. Was involved in a turf war against ISIL in Syria.
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