Updated January 15, 2019
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)
The Foreign Terrorist Organization List
Consequences of Designation
Congress has shown recurring interest in the administration
It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject
of the FTO list and its application to groups that the U.S.
to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly
government considers to be undertaking terrorism-related
provide “material support or resources” to a designated
activities.
FTO.
The State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism (CT) is
Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if
responsible for identifying entities for designation as an
they are aliens, are inadmissible to, and in certain
FTO. Prior to doing so, the Department is obligated to
circumstances removable from, the United States.
demonstrate that the entity in question engages in “terrorist
activity,” as defined in Section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the
The Secretary of the Treasury may require U.S.
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) (8 U.S.C.
§1182(a)(3)(B)), or “terrorism
financial institutions possessing or controlling any assets
,” as defined in Section
of a designated FTO to block all transactions involving
140(d)(2) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act
those assets.
(FRAA), Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 (FRAA) (22 U.S.C.
§2656f(d)(2)), or retains the capability and intent to engage
FTO designation further
in terrorist activity or terrorism. When assessing entities for
possible designation, CT looks not only at the actual
supports U.S. efforts to curb terrorism financing and to
terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, but also at
encourage other nations to do the same;
whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations
for possible future acts of terrorism or retains the capability
stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist
and intent to carry out such acts.
organizations internationally;
Terrorist activity, as found in the INA, specifically focuses
deters donations or contributions to and economic
on many types of violent activities or terrorist support
transactions with named organizations;
efforts that could affect U.S. security interests. This
definition does not address the motivations or goals of the
heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist
perpetrators of the attack. However, the second aspect of
these criteria for FTO designation, “terrorism
organizations; and
,” as provided
in the FRAA, approaches the issue from the motivations of
signals to other governments U.S. concern about named
the aggressor and the targets of the violent activity. The
FRAA defines terrorism as “
organizations.
premeditated, politically
motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant
FTO Revocation Process
targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.”
The INA sets out three possible bases for revoking an FTO
FTO Designation Criteria
designation:
Entities placed on the FTO list are suspected of engaging in
The Secretary of State must revoke a designation if the
terrorism-related activities. By designating an entity as an
Secretary finds that the circumstances that were the
FTO, the United States seeks to limit the group’s financial,
basis of the designation have changed in such a manner
property, and travel interests. Per Section 219 of the INA,
as to warrant a revocation;
as amended via Section 302 of the Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the Secretary of State
The Secretary of State must revoke a designation if the
must demonstrate that the entity of concern has met the
Secretary finds that the national security of the United
three criteria to allow the Department to designate it as an
States warrants a revocation;
FTO. The suspected terrorist group must
The Secretary of State may revoke a designation at any
be a foreign organization,
time.
engage in or retain the capability and intent to engage in
Since its inception, numerous entities have been placed on
terrorism, and
and removed from the FTO list. Found below is a list of the
entities currently designated as FTOs and groups that have
threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national
been delisted.
defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests of
the United States.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)
Entities Currently Designated as FTOs
9/19/2012
Haqqani Network (HQN)
Date Designated
3/22/2013
Ansar al-Dine (AAD)
10/8/1997
Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
11/14/2013 Boko Haram
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
Ansaru
Aum Shinrikyo (AUM)
12/19/2013 al-Mulathamun Battalion
Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)
Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) (IG)
1/13/2014
Ansar al-Shari'a in Benghazi
HAMAS
Ansar al-Shari'a in Darnah
Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)
Ansar al-Shari'a in Tunisia
Hizballah
4/10/2014
ISIL Sinai Province (formally Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis)
Kahane Chai (Kach)
5/15/2014
al-Nusrah Front
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) (Kongra-Gel)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
8/20/2014
Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of
National Liberation Army (ELN)
Jerusalem (MSC)
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF)
9/30/2015
Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al Naqshabandi (JRTN)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
1/14/2016
ISIL-Khorasan (ISIL-K)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLF)
5/20/2016
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’s Branch in
PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC)
Libya (ISIL-Libya)
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)
7/1/2016
Al-Qa’ida in the Indian Subcontinent
Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front
(DHKP/C)
8/17/2017
Hizbul Mujahideen (HM)
Shining Path (SL)
2/28/2018
ISIS-Bangladesh
10/8/1999
al-Qa’ida (AQ)
2/28/2018
ISIS-Philippines
9/25/2000
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU)
2/28/2018
ISIS-West Africa
5/16/2001
Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA)
5/23/2018
ISIS-Greater Sahara
12/26/2001 Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM)
7/11/2018
Al-Ashtar Brigades (AAB)
Lashkar-e Tayyiba (LeT)
9/6/2018
Jama’at Nusrat Al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM)
3/27/2002
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (AAMB)
Asbat al-Ansar (AAA)
al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM)
Delisted FTOs
Date originally designated • Date removed
8/9/2002
Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s
10/8/1999 • 10/8/1997
Democratic Front for the Liberation
Army (CPP/NPA)
of Palestine -Hawatmeh Faction
10/23/2002 Jemaah Islamiya (JI)
Khmer Rouge
Manuel Rodriguez Patriotic Front
1/30/2003
Lashkar i Jhangvi (LJ)
Dissidents
3/22/2004
Ansar al-Islam (AAI)
10/8/2001 • 10/8/1997
Japanese Red Army
7/13/2004
Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA)
Tupac Amaru Revolution Movement
10/8/1997 • 5/18/2009
Revolutionary Nuclei
12/17/2004 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (formerly al-
Qa'ida in Iraq)
10/8/1997 • 10/15/2010 Armed Islamic Group (GIA)
10/8/1997 • 9/28/2012
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization
6/17/2005
Islamic Jihad Union (IJU)
(MEK)
3/5/2008
Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B)
10/11/2005 • 5/28/2013 Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
(GICM)
3/18/2008
al-Shabaab
9/10/2001 • 7/15/2014
United Self Defense Forces of
5/18/2009
Revolutionary Struggle (RS)
Colombia
7/2/2009
Kata'ib Hizballah (KH)
10/8/1997 • 9/3/2015
Revolutionary Organization 17
November (17N)
1/19/2010
al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)
12/17/2004 • 12/9/2015 Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)
8/6/2010
Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (HUJI)
9/1/2010
Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP)
10/8/1997 • 6/1/2017
Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)
11/4/2010
Jundallah
5/23/2011
Army of Islam (AOI)
9/19/2011
Indian Mujahedeen (IM)
John W. Rollins, Specialist in Terrorism and National
Security
3/13/2012
Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT)
IF10613
5/30/2012
Abdallah Azzam Brigades (AAB)
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10613 · VERSION 3 · UPDATED