US designates Baloch separatists as a terror group over role in attacks in Pakistan
The designation of the Balochistan Liberation Army and its fighting wing, the Majeed Brigade, blamed for deadly attacks in insurgency-hit Balochistan province, coincides with the visit of Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to the U.S.
It also comes less than two weeks after Washington and Islamabad reached a trade agreement expected to allow American firms to help develop Pakistan's largely untapped oil reserves in resource-rich Balochistan and to lower trade tariffs for Islamabad.
In a statement, the State Department said it is 'designating the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, the Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), and adding the Majeed Brigade as an alias to BLA's previous Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designation.'
The BLA was first designated an SDGT in 2019 after several terrorist attacks. The U.S. statement said that, since then, both the group and the Majeed Brigade have claimed responsibility for additional attacks.
It also said that in 2024, the BLA claimed responsibility for suicide bombings near the airport in Karachi and in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan.
In 2025, the group said it carried out the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding more than 300 passengers hostage, according to the U.S. State Department.
'Today's action taken by the Department of State demonstrates the Trump administration's commitment to countering terrorism,' the U.S. statement said.
There was no immediate comment from Balochistan nationalists and separatist groups. Balochistan has long been the scene of insurgency, mostly blamed on groups including the key outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, which the U.S. designated a terrorist organization in 2019. The province is also home to militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban.
Separatists in Balochistan have opposed the extraction of resources by Pakistani and foreign firms and have targeted Pakistani security forces and Chinese nationals working on multibillion-dollar projects related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
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