UJC denounces US sanctions against its head Salahuddin

The United Jihad Council (UJC), which is based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), today dubbed as a "crude joke" the US decision to designate its head and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as a "global terrorist".

A day after the US State Department announced the decision, the UJC said its "struggle" for "freedom" of Kashmir "will continue till its reaches its logical conclusion."

The UJC, a conglomerate of about 13 militant groups active in Jammu and Kashmir, was formed by the Pakistan Army in 1994 and Salahuddin is its head. It includes Lashkar-e- Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad outfits.

Salahuddin, whose original name is Mohd Yusuf Shah, hails from Kashmir and is based in Pakistan for the last 28 years.

"Salahuddin is a symbol of the freedom struggle of Kashmir. The Trump administration's decision to declare him global terrorist is a crude joke with the charter of United Nations, ground realities and very regrettable," said Syed Sadaqat Hussain, spokesperson of UJC, in a statement here.

The US State Department, in a notification just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first meeting with President Donald Trump yesterday, announced the decision to designate Salahuddin as a "global terrorist", saying he "has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism."

The US took the step against the militant group's 71- year-old head as he had "vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir Valley into a graveyard for Indian forces".

Hussain said the US decision is aimed at making Modi happy.

The UJC spokesperson claimed that the "freedom struggle of Kashmir has reached such a stage where nobody can either stop it or weaken it."