Pakistan urges UN Security Council to designate BLA as terrorist organisation

WEB DESK: Pakistan has formally urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to act swiftly in designating the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a terrorist organisation under its global sanctions framework.

Speaking during a high-level Council debate on “Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts,” Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, stressed that the BLA and its Majeed Brigade, along with Fitna al Khawarij (TTP), have gained renewed strength following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan.

Pakistan is seeking the BLA’s inclusion under the Resolution 1267 sanctions regime, which targets entities associated with Al-Qaeda and ISIL, noting that the United States has already designated the BLA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Ambassador Ahmad highlighted the Afghan connection, warning that these groups operate from Afghan territory with the “active support” of an eastern neighbor, citing UN Monitoring Team reports that describe a permissive environment provided by the Afghan de facto authorities for groups like the TTP, Al-Qaeda, and ISIL-K. He also drew attention to a recent series of coordinated BLA attacks in Balochistan that claimed the lives of 48 civilians, including women and children, and stressed the risks posed by sophisticated weapons left behind in Afghanistan falling into terrorist hands, threatening regional and Central Asian security.

The envoy further criticised the existing global counter-terrorism framework for disproportionately targeting Muslims and called for it to encompass emerging threats from white supremacists, far-right extremists, violent nationalists, fascists, and xenophobic or Islamophobic groups. Highlighting the principle of zero tolerance for state terrorism, he explicitly referred to the situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), arguing that foreign occupation and repression cannot be justified under the guise of counter-terrorism.

Pakistan concluded by urging a collective, comprehensive, and coordinated response to terrorism, free from double standards or politically motivated agendas, to ensure a stable and secure international order.