State Department Terrorist Designations of the Tariq Gidar Group and Jama'at ul Dawa al-Qu'ran

Washington, DC - The Department of State has designated both the Tariq Gidar Group (TGG) and Jama’at ul Dawa al-Qu’ran (JDQ) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign entities determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.

As a result of these designations, all property subject to U.S. jurisdiction in which the TGG or JDQ have any interest is blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the TGG or JDQ.

The TGG is a Pakistani Taliban (TTP) linked group based in Darra Adam Khel, Pakistan. The TGG is responsible for multiple large-scale, fatal attacks, including the December 16, 2014, massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, that left 132 schoolchildren and nine staffers dead—the deadliest terrorist attack in Pakistan’s history. The group’s leader, Umar Mansoor, is also known as the mastermind of the January 2016 attack on Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan, that killed 20 and wounded between 50 and 60 others. In addition to these devastating attacks, the TGG is responsible for the 2010 kidnapping of a British journalist traveling to North Waziristan, Pakistan, and the 2008 kidnapping and beheading of Polish geologist Piotr Stanczak in Attock, Pakistan.

JDQ is a terrorist group, based in Peshawar, Pakistan, and eastern Afghanistan, which pledged allegiance in 2010 to now-deceased Taliban emir Mullah Omar, and has long-standing ties to al-Qaida and Lashkar e-Tayyiba. JDQ has been responsible for various attacks, including the infamous 2010 kidnapping and death of British aid worker Linda Norgrove in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.

The United States will continue to work with regional partners to counter militant and terrorist networks.

The imposition of sanctions by the United States against terrorists is a powerful tool. Today’s action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that both the TGG and JDQ are actively engaged in terrorism. Terrorism designations are one of the ways the United States can expose and isolate organizations and individuals engaged in terrorism, impose serious sanctions on them, and enable coordinated action across the U.S. Government and with our international partners to disrupt the activities of terrorists. This includes denying them access to the U.S. financial system and enabling U.S. law enforcement actions.