Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are foreign organizations that are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended. FTO designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business.

Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Date DesignatedName
December 1, 2021Segunda Marquetalia
December 1, 2021Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC-EP)
March 11, 2021ISIS-DRC
March 11, 2021ISIS-Mozambique
January 14, 2021Harakat Sawa’d Misr (HASM)
January 10, 2020Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH)
April 15, 2019Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
September 6, 2018Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)
July 11, 2018al-Ashtar Brigades
May 23, 2018ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS)
February 28, 2018ISIS-West Africa
February 28, 2018ISIS-Philippines
February 28, 2018ISIS-Bangladesh
August 17, 2017Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)
July 1, 2016al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS)
May 20, 2016ISIS-Libya
January 14, 2016Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISIS-K)
September 30, 2015Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al Naqshabandi (JRTN)
May 15, 2014al-Nusrah Front, aka Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (ANF/HTS)
— Jabhat Fath al-Sham Amendment (November 14, 2016)
— Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham Amendment (June 1, 2018)
April 10, 2014ISIS-Sinai Province (formerly Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis)
— ISIL Sinai Province Amendment (September 30, 2015)
January 13, 2014Ansar al-Shari’a in Benghazi
January 13, 2014Ansar al-Shari’a in Darnah
January 13, 2014Ansar al-Shari’a in Tunisia
December 19, 2013al-Mulathamun Battalion, aka al-Murabitoun
November 14, 2013Ansaru
November 14, 2013Boko Haram
March 22, 2013Ansar al-Dine (AAD)
September 19, 2012Haqqani Network (HQN)
May 30, 2012Abdallah Azzam Brigades
— Marwan Hadid Brigades Amendment (November 2, 2017)
March 13, 2012Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT)
September 19, 2011Indian Mujahedeen (IM)
May 23, 2011Army of Islam (AOI)
November 4, 2010Jaysh al-Adl (formerly Jundallah)
— Jaysh al-Adl Amendment (July 2, 2019)
September 1, 2010Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
August 6, 2010Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI)
January 19, 2010al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
— Ansar al-Shari’a Amendment (October 5, 2012)
July 2, 2009Kata’ib Hizballah (KH)
May 18, 2009Revolutionary Struggle (RS)
March 18, 2008al-Shabaab
— al-Hijra Amendment (August 1, 2018)
March 5, 2008Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)
June 17, 2005Islamic Jihad Union (IJU)
December 17, 2004ISIS (formerly al-Qa’ida in Iraq)
— Islamic State of Iraq Amendment (January 26, 2012)
— al-Hayat Media Center and Amaq News Agency Amendments (March 22, 2019)
July 13, 2004Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)
March 22, 2004Ansar al-Islam (AAI)
January 30, 2003Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ)
October 23, 2002Jemaah Islamiya (JI)
August 9, 2002Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA)
March 27, 2002al-Qa’ida in the Islamic Maghreb (formerly Salafist Group for Call and Combat)
— AQIM Amendment (February 20, 2008)
March 27, 2002Asbat al-Ansar (AAA)
March 27, 2002Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB)
December 26, 2001Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)
— Tehrik-e-Tahafuz Qibla Awwal, Tehrik-e-Hurmat-e-Rasool, and Al-Anfal Trust Amendments (June 26, 2014)
— Al Muhammadia Students Amendment (December 30, 2016)
— Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir and Milli Muslim League Amendments (April 4, 2018)
December 26, 2001Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)
May 16, 2001New Irish Republican Army (formerly Real IRA)
— New IRA Amendment (June 30, 2023)
September 25, 2000Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
October 8, 1999al-Qa’ida (AQ)
October 8, 1997Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
October 8, 1997HAMAS
October 8, 1997Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
— Ansar ul-Ummah Amendment (August 8, 2014)
October 8, 1997Hizballah
October 8, 1997Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
October 8, 1997Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
October 8, 1997National Liberation Army (ELN)
October 8, 1997Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
October 8, 1997Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
October 8, 1997Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
October 8, 1997PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
October 8, 1997Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C)
October 8, 1997Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL)

Delisted Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Date RemovedNameDate Originally Designated
May 20, 2022Aum Shinrikyo (AUM)October 8, 1997
May 20, 2022Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)October 8, 1997
May 20, 2022Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group – IG)October 8, 1997
May 20, 2022Kahane Chai (Kach)October 8, 1997
May 20, 2022Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem (MSC)August 20, 2014
December 1, 2021Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)October 8, 1997
February 16, 2021AnsarallahJanuary 19, 2021
June 1, 2017Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)October 8, 1997
December 9, 2015Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)December 17, 2004
September 3, 2015Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N)October 8, 1997
July 15, 2014United Self Defense Forces of ColombiaSeptember 10, 2001
May 28, 2013Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM)October 11, 2005
September 28, 2012Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK)October 8, 1997
October 15, 2010Armed Islamic Group (GIA)October 8, 1997
May 18, 2009Revolutionary NucleiOctober 8, 1997
October 8, 2001Tupac Amaru Revolution MovementOctober 8, 1997
October 8, 2001Japanese Red ArmyOctober 8, 1997
October 8, 1999Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front DissidentsOctober 8, 1997
October 8, 1999Khmer RougeOctober 8, 1997
October 8, 1999Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine -Hawatmeh FactionOctober 8, 1997

Identification

The Bureau of Counterterrorism in the State Department (CT) continually monitors the activities of terrorist groups active around the world to identify potential targets for designation. When reviewing potential targets, CT looks not only at the actual terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, but also at whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts of terrorism or retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts.

Designation

Once a target is identified, CT prepares a detailed “administrative record,” which is a compilation of information, typically including both classified and open sources information, demonstrating that the statutory criteria for designation have been satisfied. If the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, decides to make the designation, Congress is notified of the Secretary’s intent to designate the organization and given seven days to review the designation, as the INA requires. Upon the expiration of the seven-day waiting period and in the absence of Congressional action to block the designation, notice of the designation is published in the Federal Register, at which point the designation takes effect. By law an organization designated as an FTO may seek judicial review of the designation in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit not later than 30 days after the designation is published in the Federal Register.

Until recently the INA provided that FTOs must be redesignated every 2 years or the designation would lapse. Under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA), however, the redesignation requirement was replaced by certain review and revocation procedures. IRTPA provides that an FTO may file a petition for revocation 2 years after its designation date (or in the case of redesignated FTOs, its most recent redesignation date) or 2 years after the determination date on its most recent petition for revocation. In order to provide a basis for revocation, the petitioning FTO must provide evidence that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation are sufficiently different as to warrant revocation. If no such review has been conducted during a 5 year period with respect to a designation, then the Secretary of State is required to review the designation to determine whether revocation would be appropriate. In addition, the Secretary of State may at any time revoke a designation upon a finding that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation have changed in such a manner as to warrant revocation, or that the national security of the United States warrants a revocation. The same procedural requirements apply to revocations made by the Secretary of State as apply to designations. A designation may be revoked by an Act of Congress, or set aside by a Court order.

Legal Criteria for Designation under Section 219 of the INA as amended

  1. It must be a foreign organization.
  2. The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the INA (8 U.S.C. § 1182(a)(3)(B)),or terrorism, as defined in section 140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (22 U.S.C. § 2656f(d)(2)), or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.
  3. The organization’s terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.

Legal Ramifications of Designation

  1. It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide “material support or resources” to a designated FTO. (The term “material support or resources” is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(1) as ” any property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who maybe or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or religious materials.” 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(2) provides that for these purposes “the term ‘training’ means instruction or teaching designed to impart a specific skill, as opposed to general knowledge.” 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(3) further provides that for these purposes the term ‘expert advice or assistance’ means advice or assistance derived from scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge.’’
  2. Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from the United States (see 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182 (a)(3)(B)(i)(IV)-(V), 1227 (a)(1)(A)).
  3. Any U.S. financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which a designated FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Other Effects of Designation

  1. Supports our efforts to curb terrorism financing and to encourage other nations to do the same.
  2. Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally.
  3. Deters donations or contributions to and economic transactions with named organizations.
  4. Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations.
  5. Signals to other governments our concern about named organizations.

Revocations of Foreign Terrorist Organizations

The Immigration and Nationality Act sets out three possible basis for revoking a Foreign Terrorist Organization designation:

  1. The Secretary of State must revoke a designation if the Secretary finds that the circumstances that were the basis of the designation have changed in such a manner as to warrant a revocation;
  2. The Secretary of State must revoke a designation if the Secretary finds that the national security of the United States warrants a revocation;
  3. The Secretary of State may revoke a designation at any time.

Any revocation shall take effect on the date specified in the revocation or upon publication in the Federal Register if no effective date is specified. The revocation of a designation shall not affect any action or proceeding based on conduct committed prior to the effective date of such revocation.

U.S. Department of State

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