US designates Pakistan Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah 'a global terrorist'

Move follows deadly attack on Peshawar school

Mullah Fazlullah

The United States on Tuesday declared Pakistani Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah a global terrorist, making it a crime to engage in transactions with the man behind the December 16 attack in which 134 children at a Peshawar school were killed

The State Department said in a statement the formal designation also allows the US government to seize any of his property or interests in the United States, including those under the control of US citizens.

Fazlullah and the Taliban claimed responsibility for the school attack that resulted in the deaths of “at least 148 individuals, mostly students,” the department said.

Fazlullah also was behind the 2012 assassination attempt on Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai, who last year was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Fazlullah was elected leader of the Taliban in 2013.

The Pakistani Taliban was designated a terrorist organization by the United States in 2010.

Reuters