US DECLARES PAKISTAN’S BALOCHISTAN LIBERATION ARMY, ARMED WING AS TERRORIST GROUPS

Tue 12 August 2025:

The US State Department on Monday designated Pakistan’s Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its armed wing, the Majeed Brigade, as terrorist organizations, accusing them of carrying out multiple deadly attacks in recent years.

The State Department said the group has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings near Karachi airport and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex in 2024 and the March 2025 seizure of the Jaffar Express train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding more than 300 passengers hostage.

“Today’s action taken by the Department of State demonstrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to countering terrorism. Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against this scourge and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,” said the State Department.

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Terrorist designations by the State Department also mean that the BLA and anyone affiliated with it are subject to sanctions that deny them access to the US financial system.

The BLA was first designated as a terrorist group by the US in 2019 and is also banned in Pakistan and the UK. Islamabad accuses India of patronizing the group, a charge New Delhi denies.

Balochistan has been plagued by violence for over six decades, with separatists claiming it was forcibly incorporated into Pakistan at the end of British rule in 1947.

Pakistan claims India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) provides the BLA with funding, weapons, and training to destabilize Pakistan, particularly targeting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

A key instance is the 2016 arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, an alleged Indian spy, who Pakistan claims confessed to aiding Baloch insurgents. Reports suggest BLA commanders have received medical treatment in India, and some allege training camps in Afghanistan were backed by Indian consulates. India denies these allegations, asserting they are baseless and that Pakistan uses them to deflect from its internal issues.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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