United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations


The United States Department of State maintains a list with Foreign Terrorist Organizations in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Most of the terrorist organizations on the list are Islamist extremist groups; the rest are nationalist/separatist groups, Marxist militant groups, drug cartels, or transnational gangs.
The Department of State, along with the United States Department of the Treasury, also has the authority to designate individuals and entities as subject to counter-terrorism sanctions according to Executive Order 13224. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control maintains a separate list of such individuals and entities.

Identification of candidates

The Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism of the United States Department of State continually monitors the activities of groups active around the world to identify targets for the "terrorist" designation. When reviewing potential targets, S/CT looks at the actual attacks that a group has carried out, as well as whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts of violence or retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts.

Designation process

Once a target is identified, the Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism 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, the United States 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, notice of the designation is published in the Federal Register, at which point the designation takes effect. 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.
Under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, the FTO may file a petition for revocation two years after the designation date or two 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 five-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.
The procedural requirements for designating an organization as an FTO also apply to any redesignation of that organization. The Secretary of State may revoke a designation or redesignation at any time upon a finding that the circumstances that were the basis for the designation or redesignation 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 or redesignations. A designation may also be revoked by an Act of Congress, or set aside by a Court order.

Legal criteria for designation

  • It must be a foreign organization.
  • The organization must engage in terrorist activity, as defined in section 212 of the INA ),* or terrorism, as defined in section 140 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1988 and 1989 ),** or retain the capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism.
  • The organization's terrorist activity or terrorism must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security of the United States.

    Legal ramifications of designation

  • 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.
  • Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from the United States -, 1227 ).
  • 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

The U.S. Department of State lists the following items as additional considered beneficial effects of designation:
  • Supports efforts to curb terrorism financing and to encourage other nations to do the same.
  • Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally.
  • Deters donations or contributions to and economic transactions with named organizations.
  • Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations.
  • Signals to other governments U.S. concern about named organizations.
Official designation of a group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization also triggers more robust means of combat under the Authorization for Use of Military Force act enacted in 2001, which is still in force today.

Groups designated as FTOs

the following organizations are designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations:
Date addedNameRegionArea of operationsNotes
October 8, 1997Abu Sayyaf Group AsiaPhilippines
October 8, 1997Hamas Middle EastPalestinian Territories
October 8, 1997Harakat ul-Mujahidin AsiaPakistan
October 8, 1997HezbollahMiddle EastLebanon
October 8, 1997Kongra-Gel Middle EastTurkey, Iraq, Iran, SyriaFormerly PKK, KADEK..
October 8, 1997Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam AsiaSri Lanka, India62
October 8, 1997National Liberation Army South AmericaColombia62
October 8, 1997Palestine Liberation Front Middle EastPalestinian Territories62
October 8, 1997Islamic Jihad GroupMiddle EastPalestinian Territories62
October 8, 1997Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Middle EastPalestinian Territories62
October 8, 1997PFLP-General Command Middle EastPalestinian Territories62
October 8, 1997Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front Middle EastTurkey62
October 8, 1997Shining Path South AmericaPeru62
October 8, 1999al-Qa'idaWorldwideAfghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia
September 25, 2000Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan AsiaUzbekistan, Afghanistan
May 16, 2001Real Irish Republican Army EuropeIreland, United KingdomAssociated with 32 County Sovereignty Movement
December 26, 2001Jaish-e-Mohammed AsiaPakistan
December 26, 2001Lashkar-e Tayyiba AsiaPakistanLater amended to include the Milli Muslim League.
March 27, 2002Al-Aqsa Martyrs' BrigadesMiddle EastPalestinian Territories
March 27, 2002Asbat an-AnsarMiddle EastLebanon
March 27, 2002al-Qa'ida in the Islamic MaghrebAfrica, Middle EastAlgeria, Mali, NigerFormerly GSPC
August 9, 2002Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army AsiaPhilippines
October 23, 2002Jemaah Islamiyah AsiaIndonesiaAlso in Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore
January 30, 2003Lashkar i JhangviAsiaPakistan
March 22, 2004Ansar al-IslamMiddle EastIraq
July 13, 2004Continuity Irish Republican Army EuropeIreland, United Kingdom
December 17, 2004Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant WorldwideIraq, Syria, Libya, NigeriaFormerly Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, JTJ, al-Zarqawi Network. Al-Nusra Front was considered an alias of Al-Qaeda in Iraq
June 17, 2005Islamic Jihad Union AsiaUzbekistan
March 5, 2008Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami AsiaBangladesh
March 18, 2008Al-ShabaabAfricaSomalia, Yemen, Mozambique
May 18, 2009Revolutionary StruggleEuropeGreece
July 2, 2009Kata'ib HezbollahMiddle EastIraq
January 19, 2010al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula Middle EastYemen, Saudi Arabia
August 6, 2010Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami AsiaBangladesh
September 1, 2010Tehrik-i-Taliban AsiaPakistan
November 4, 2010Jaysh al-Adl AsiaIran
May 23, 2011Army of Islam Middle EastPalestinian Territories
September 19, 2011Indian Mujahideen AsiaIndia
September 19, 2011Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid AsiaIndonesia
May 30, 2012Abdullah Azzam BrigadesMiddle EastIraq
September 19, 2012Haqqani Network AsiaAfghanistan, Pakistan
March 22, 2013Ansar Dine AfricaMali
November 14, 2013Boko HaramAfricaNigeria
November 14, 2013AnsaruAfricaNigeria
December 19, 2013al-Mulathamun BrigadeAfricaAlgeria
January 13, 2014Ansar al-Shari'a in BenghaziAfricaLibya
January 13, 2014Ansar al-Shari'a in DarnahAfricaLibya
January 13, 2014Ansar al-Shari'a in TunisiaAfricaTunisia
April 10, 2014ISIL Sinai Province Africa, Middle EastEgypt
September 30, 2015Jaysh Rijal al-Tariq al Naqshabandi Middle EastIraq
January 14, 2016ISIL-KhorasanAsiaAfghanistan
May 20, 2016ISIL-LibyaAfricaLibya
July 1, 2016Al-Qa'ida in the Indian SubcontinentAsiaBangladesh, India, Pakistan
August 17, 2017Hizbul MujahideenAsiaPakistan, India
February 28, 2018ISIS-BangladeshAsiaBangladesh
February 28, 2018ISIS-PhilippinesAsiaPhilippines
February 28, 2018ISIS-West AfricaAfricaWest Africa
May 23, 2018ISIS-Greater SaharaAfricaMaghreb and West Africa
July 11, 2018al-Ashtar Brigades AsiaBahrain
September 6, 2018Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin AfricaMaghreb and West Africa
April 15, 2019Islamic Revolutionary Guard CorpsAsiaIranBranch of Iranian military.
January 10, 2020Asa'ib Ahl al-HaqMiddle EastIraqIran-aligned Shi'a militia group in Iraq.
January 14, 2021Harakat Sawa'd Misr AfricaEgypt
March 11, 2021ISIS-Democratic Republic of the CongoAfricaDemocratic Republic of the Congo
March 11, 2021ISIS-MozambiqueAfricaMozambique
December 1, 2021Segunda MarquetaliaSouth AmericaColombia
December 1, 2021Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army South AmericaColombia
February 20, 2025Gulf CartelCentral AmericaMexico, Texas, Louisiana, GeorgiaDesignated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
February 20, 2025Jalisco New Generation CartelLatin America, Oceania, Europe, AsiaMexico, United States, Australia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guyana, Argentina, Uruguay, France, United Kingdom, Balkans, Italy, Spain, Japan, ThailandDesignated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
February 20, 2025Mara Salvatrucha Central AmericaMexico, California, and TexasDesignated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
February 20, 2025La Nueva Familia Michoacana OrganizationCentral AmericaMexico, Belgium, China, Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, D.C.Designated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
February 20, 2025Northeast CartelCentral AmericaMexicoDesignated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
February 20, 2025Sinaloa CartelLatin AmericaMexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Belize, Guyana, Canada, United StatesDesignated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
February 20, 2025Tren de AraguaSouth AmericaVenezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and United StatesDesignated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
February 20, 2025United CartelsCentral AmericaMexicoDesignated under Executive Order 14157 by President Donald Trump.
March 5, 2025Ansar Allah Middle East, AsiaYemenRedesignated by President Donald Trump during his second term through Executive Order 14175, after initially designating them on January 11, 2021, a move that was reversed by the Biden administration on February 16, 2021. On March 4, 2025, the State Department announced the designation of the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, along with a $15 million reward for information leading to the disruption of Ansarallah's financial networks.
May 2, 2025Gran GrifCaribbeanHaitiGangs in Haiti.
May 2, 2025Viv AnsanmCaribbeanHaitiGangs in Haiti.
July 18, 2025The Resistance FrontAsiaIndiaAs a proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
August 11, 2025Balochistan Liberation Army and its alias Majeed BrigadeAsiaPakistan, Iran, AfghanistanParticipant in the Insurgency in Balochistan which has been ongoing since 1948.
September 4, 2025Los ChonerosSouth AmericaEcuadorGangs in Ecuador.
September 4, 2025Los LobosSouth AmericaEcuadorGangs in Ecuador.
September 17, 2025Harakat Ansar Allah al-AwfiyaMiddle EastIraqIran-aligned Shi'a militia groups in Iraq.
September 17, 2025Harakat Hezbollah al-NujabaMiddle EastIraqIran-aligned Shi'a militia groups in Iraq.
September 17, 2025Kata'ib al-Imam AliMiddle EastIraqIran-aligned Shi'a militia groups in Iraq.
September 17, 2025Kata'ib Sayyid al-ShuhadaMiddle EastIraqIran-aligned Shi'a militia groups in Iraq.
September 23, 2025Barrio 18North America, Central AmericaCanada, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, United StatesAlso knows as 18th Street gang.
November 24, 2025Cártel de los SolesSouth AmericaVenezuelaHigh-ranking members of the Armed Forces of Venezuela involved in the international drug trade, including disputed President Nicolás Maduro.
December 16, 2025Clan del GolfoSouth AmericaColombiaDrug cartel in Colombia.