FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

“Lashkar i Jhangvi” means ‘army of Jhang,’ a region in Pakistan.  Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ) is an extremist organization that emerged in 1997.  While LJ initially directed most of its attacks against the Pakistani Shia Muslim community, it also claimed responsibility for the 1997 killing of four U.S. oil workers in Karachi.  Lashkar i Jhangvi also attempted to assassinate then-Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999.
 
LJ is responsible for the January 2002 kidnapping and killing of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl.  LJ is also responsible for a March 2002 bus bombing that killed 15 people, including 11 French technicians.
 
 Reports have attributed the March 2002 Islamabad Protestant church bombing, in which two U.S. citizens were killed, to LJ.  In July 2002, Pakistani policy arrested four Lashkar i Jhangvi members for the church attack.  The LJ members confessed to the killings and said the attack was in retaliation for the U.S. attack on Afghanistan.
 
LJ also has ties to al Qa’ida and the Taliban.  In addition to receiving sanctuary from the Taliban in Afghanistan for their activity in Pakistan, LJ members also fought alongside Taliban fighters.  Pakistani government investigations in 2002 revealed that al Qa’ida has been involved with training of LJ, and that LJ fighters also fought alongside the Taliban against the Northern Alliance.  The Pakistan Interior Minister, speaking of LJ members, stated that “They have been sleeping and eating together, receiving training together, and fighting against the Northern Alliance together in Afghanistan.” 

Including today’s action there are 258 individuals, entities and organizations on the terrorist financing executive order.   $124.5 million has been blocked worldwide, of that amount, $36.2 million has been blocked in the United States.