Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says the leader of an outlawed militant group blamed by India for a February suicide attack that killed 40 of its soldiers has been added to a United Nations sanctions blacklist.

The sanctions against Masood Azhar were confirmed Wednesday by ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal. They come months after Azhar's group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, claimed responsibility for the Feb. 14 attack in disputed Kashmir. The designation comes with a travel ban and freeze on Azhar's assets.

India responded to the militants' attack by launching an airstrike in northwest Pakistan that caused no casualties. Pakistan retaliated on Feb. 27, shooting down two Indian warplanes and capturing a pilot.

Timely intervention by the international community defused tensions between the two South Asian nuclear powers who have fought three wars after gaining independence in 1947.