Washington: The US has frozen the assets of a Pakistan-based charitable group involved in "financing" terrorist outfits active in Jammu and Kashmir, and designated it as a "terrorist support organisation" for its alleged links to the al-Qaida network.

Al-Akhtar Trust was providing a wide range of support to al-Qaida and Pakistani-based sectarian and 'jihadi' groups, specifically Lashkar-e-Toiba, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, and Jaish-e-Mohammed, according to a fact sheet issued by the Treasury Department.

These efforts included providing financial and logistical support as well as arranging travel for Islamic extremists.

The "designation strikes at the life blood of terrorists – the money that funds them", Treasury secretary John Snow said in a statement.

"Shutting down this organisation will cripple yet another source of support for terrorists and possibly help undermine the financial backing of terrorists staging attacks against American troops and Iraqi civilians in Iraq."

Al-Akhtar, said the Treasury, is registered as a humanitarian aid agency, but evidence presented by the Treasury indicates numerous links between al-Akhtar and other organisations and individuals on the list of groups supporting terrorist activities, including al-Qaida and the Taleban.

"The activities of al-Akhtar Trust demonstrate the dangerous alliance between corrupted charities and terrorists. There is little more despicable than raising money under the guise of doing good and instead diverting the resources of often well-intentioned donors to supporting acts of terror," he said.

The action, undertaken under an executive order signed by President George W Bush bars US nationals from engaging in any transaction with al-Akhtar Trust.

The administration will also request the United Nations to place the group on its list of supporters of terrorism, which will require that all member-states sever ties with it.

Al-Akhtar is carrying on the activities of the previously designated al-Rashid Trust. The organisation is also suspected of raising money for 'jihad' in Iraq and is connected to an individual with ties to the kidnapping and murder of 'Wall Street Journal' reporter Daniel Pearl, the fact sheet said.

This designation builds on ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation with the Pakistani government and comes on the heels of secretary Snow's recent visit to Islamabad.

With the designation, the US and our international partners have designated 321 individuals and organisations as terrorists and terrorist supporters and have frozen over $ 136.8 million in terrorist assets and have seized more than $ 60 million.

According to information available to the US government, following the house arrest of the group leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammed members set up two organisations registered in Pakistan as humanitarian aid agencies: al-Akhtar Trust and al-Khair Trust.

Jaish-e-Mohammed sought to give the impression that the two new organisations were separate entities and used them as a way to deliver arms and ammunition to their members under the guise of providing humanitarian aid to refugees and other needy groups.

PTI