ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday summoned India’s deputy high commissioner in Islamabad to protest the killing of a Pakistani villager in “unprovoked firing” by Indian troops in the Himalayan region of Kashmir.
Abdul Rauf was fatally shot by Indian security forces Tuesday in the Kotkoterra Sector while grazing animals, according to a Pakistani military statement.
The Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian diplomat and condemned what it said was an unprovoked ceasefire violation by Indian forces.
“The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Indian military said no such incident took place Tuesday in the disputed region.
Lt. Col. Devender Anand, an Indian army spokesman, however, said soldiers killed an “intruder” on the Indian side after he sneaked in from Pakistan on Wednesday in the Rajouri sector. He did not give any other details.
The developments come as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived on a short visit to Islamabad before going to India.
Pakistan and India often exchange fire in Kashmir along the Line of Control that serves as a frontier in the disputed region, divided between the two nuclear-armed south Asian neighbors.
The two sides signed a cease-fire agreement in 2003 but both often violate it and accuse each other of ‘unprovoked firing’.
The two nations claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over it since they gained independence from British rule.
Pakistan says India military kills 1 in disputed Kashmir
Pakistan says India military kills 1 in disputed Kashmir
- The Foreign Ministry summoned the Indian diplomat and condemned what it said was an unprovoked ceasefire violation by Indian forces
- The two nations claim Kashmir in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over it since
Trump administration labels 3 Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations
- The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization
- “These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence,” Rubio said
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has made good on its pledge to label three Middle Eastern branches of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations, imposing sanctions on them and their members in a decision that could have implications for US relationships with allies Qatar and Turkiye.
The Treasury and State departments announced the actions Tuesday against the Lebanese, Jordanian and Egyptian chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which they said pose a risk to the United States and American interests.
The State Department designated the Lebanese branch a foreign terrorist organization, the most severe of the labels, which makes it a criminal offense to provide material support to the group. The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were listed by Treasury as specially designated global terrorists for providing support to Hamas.
“These designations reflect the opening actions of an ongoing, sustained effort to thwart Muslim Brotherhood chapters’ violence and destabilization wherever it occurs,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The United States will use all available tools to deprive these Muslim Brotherhood chapters of the resources to engage in or support terrorism.”
Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were mandated last year under an executive order signed by Trump to determine the most appropriate way to impose sanctions on the groups, which US officials say engage in or support violence and destabilization campaigns that harm the United States and other regions.
Muslim Brotherhood leaders have said they renounce violence.
Trump’s executive order had singled out the chapters in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt, noting that a wing of the Lebanese chapter had launched rockets on Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel that set off the war in Gaza. Leaders of the group in Jordan have provided support to Hamas, the order said.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928 but was banned in that country in 2013. Jordan announced a sweeping ban on the Muslim Brotherhood in April.
Nathan Brown, a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said some allies of the US, including the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, would likely be pleased with the designation.
“For other governments where the brotherhood is tolerated, it would be a thorn in bilateral relations,” including in Qatar and Turkiye, he said.
Brown also said a designation on the chapters may have effects on visa and asylum claims for people entering not just the US but also Western European countries and Canada.
“I think this would give immigration officials a stronger basis for suspicion, and it might make courts less likely to question any kind of official action against Brotherhood members who are seeking to stay in this country, seeking political asylum,” he said.
Trump, a Republican, weighed whether to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization in 2019 during his first term in office. Some prominent Trump supporters, including right-wing influencer Laura Loomer, have pushed his administration to take aggressive action against the group.
Two Republican-led state governments — Florida and Texas — designated the group as a terrorist organization this year.
