KARACHI, Pakistan — A Pakistani political party placed on the US list of foreign terrorist organizations vowed on Wednesday to continue its political activities and participate in upcoming elections.

The Milli Muslim League (MML) is controlled by Hafiz Saeed, who has a $10 million US bounty on his head. The group shot to prominence after fielding a candidate in a September 2017 by-election to fill a seat vacated by deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The US State Department on Tuesday termed MML an alias for militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), or Army of the Pure, blamed for a bloody 2008 attack in India.

“We clearly state that on US announcements we will not discontinue our political activities at any cost,” MML president Saifullah Khalid said, reading from a statement in Karachi.

“Milli Muslim League will fully participate in the 2018 elections and will field candidates from across Pakistan.”

Saeed is the founder of LeT, which is also on the US terrorist list and blamed by the United States and India for a four-day militant attack on Mumbai in 2008 in which 166 people were killed.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the attack.

Images of Saeed appeared on MML campaign posters during rallies held in two major Pakistani cities leading up to by-elections last year.

The party was subsequently barred from participating in polls by Pakistan’s electoral commission, a decision that was overturned by the courts.

“We have confidence in our higher judiciary ... MML will be registered and it will emerge as a big national party in future,” Khalid said.

Khalid termed the US decision a violation of basic human rights and an open intervention in Pakistan's internal affairs, asking for the State Department to bring evidence before the courts.

“Make no mistake: whatever LeT chooses to call itself, it remains a violent terrorist group. The United States supports all efforts to ensure that LeT does not have a political voice until it gives up violence as a tool of influence,” the US State Department said in a statement.

Under pressure from the United States, the United Nations and international institutions to crack down on terrorist financing, Pakistan drew up secret plans last December for a “takeover” of charities linked to Saeed.

Saeed has since taken the government decision to court.

Saeed’s freedom in Pakistan, where he holds rallies, has been a thorn in Pakistan’s relations with old rival India and the United States.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday released an updated list of terrorist individuals and entities out of which 139 entries stem from Pakistan.The list includes names of globally designated terrorists — ranging from Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri to Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) commander Maulana Fazlullah apart from Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed, infamous mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and the Haqqanis.

It highlights names of terrorists that have lived in Pakistan, used Pakistani soil for their operations or have been collaborating with a terror group operating from within Pakistan.

LeT Chief Saeed has been listed as an individual also wanted by the Interpol for his alleged involvement in terrorist activities. According to UN data, his deputy Zafar Iqbal who was in charge of finances for LeT and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) in 2010, director of its education department and in-charge of the medical wing has also been named.

Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the LeT chief of military operations who has also been associated with Al-Qaeda for participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing and perpetrating violent acts according to UN data is placed on the terror list and has an Interpol warrant issued against him. — Agencies