Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA) is a militant group affiliated with U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Founded by former TTP leader Abdul Wali in August 2014, JuA has staged multiple attacks in Pakistan targeting civilians, religious minorities, military personnel, and law enforcement. In August 2015, JuA claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Punjab, Pakistan that killed Punjab Home Minister Shuja Khanzada and 18 of his supporters. JuA was responsible for the killing of two Pakistani employees of the U.S. Consulate in Peshawar in early March 2016. In late March 2016, JuA carried out the suicide assault at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal amusement park in Lahore, Pakistan, that killed more than 70 people—nearly half of them women and children—and injured hundreds more.
On August 3, 2016, the U.S. Department of State designated JuA as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended. As a result, all of JuA’s property, and interests in property, subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with JuA.
