The U.S. will remove 5 groups from its foreign terrorism blacklist

A wall painted with portraits of prisoners of the Basque separatist armed group ETA, in the small village of Hernani, northern Spain, on May 2, 2018. (Alvaro Barrientos / AP)

BERLIN — The United States is poised to remove five extremist groups, all believed to be defunct, from its list of foreign terrorist organizations, including several that once posed significant threats, killing hundreds if not thousands of people across Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Although the groups are inactive, the decision is politically sensitive for the Biden administration and the countries in which the organizations operated, and could draw criticism from victims and their families still dealing with the losses of loved ones.