The US has decided to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation on Friday, in a move that will be seen as a test to US-Pakistan relations.

The decision will mean that the now blacklisted group will now be subject to sanctions, a freezing of assets and will prevent any US individuals or companies from having ties to the group.

The move, announced by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, comes after the US Congress set a deadline for the Obama administration to make a decision on the group in July.

She stated that whilst classifying the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation,

"We also continue our robust campaign of diplomatic, military and intelligence pressure on the network, demonstrating the United States's resolve to degrade the organisation's ability to execute violent attacks."

However, the decision may harm US-Pakistan relations and peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, both of whom the Haqqani network is thought to have close links with.

Former head of the US military, Admiral Mike Mullen stated last year that the network was a "veritable arm" of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, making the relationship a point of contention between the two nations.

Earlier reports of a deal thought to have been struck by the US with the Haqqani group was strenuosly denied by US officials.