The United States, United Kingdom, and France blocked a joint Pakistan-China bid to sanction the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Majeed Brigade at the UN, over a month after Washington declared both groups as Foreign Terrorist Organisations.
In blocking the joint bid to sanction the BLA and its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, under the UN 1267 regime, the US and allies noted that there was insufficient evidence linking the groups to Al Qaeda or ISIL.
The UN 1267 regime refers to UN Security Council Resolution 1267 of 1999, which imposes sanctions—including travel bans, asset freezes, and arms embargoes—on individuals or entities linked to Al-Qaida, the Taliban, and ISIL.
Earlier, Pakistan and China had submitted a joint bid to sanction the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade at the UN Security Council. On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, noted that terrorist groups—including ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the BLA, and its Majeed Brigade—were operating and launching cross-border attacks from Afghanistan.
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Ahmed further stated that terrorism emanating from Afghanistan remains Pakistan’s primary national security threat and urged the Taliban-led Afghan government to fulfil its international counter-terrorism commitments.
“Pakistan and China have jointly submitted to the 1267 Sanctions Committee a request to designate the BLA and Majeed Brigade. We hope the Council will act swiftly on this listing to curb their terrorist activities,” Ahmed said at the UN Security Council.
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Last month, BLA and its alias, the Majeed Brigade, were declared as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation by the US. The BLA has been under US scrutiny for years. It was first designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2019 after being linked to a series of terrorist incidents. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks, including suicide bombings and high-profile assaults carried out by the Majeed Brigade.
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