US designates Balochistan Liberation Army, active in Pakistan, as ‘foreign terrorist organization'
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government officials and installations and people from other provinces.
The BLA, which also uses the alias of 'The Majeed Brigade,' is the most prominent of separatist groups in Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan and is home to key China-led infrastructure projects, including a port and a gold-copper mine.
In March, the group claimed responsibility for the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding hostage over 300 train passengers. In 2024, it claimed suicide attacks on Chinese nationals in Karachi and Gwadar.
'Today's action taken by the Department of State demonstrates the Trump Administration's commitment to countering terrorism,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio was quoted as saying by the State Department.
'Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against this scourge and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities.'
The foreign terrorist organization designation by the US triggers restrictions on providing financial support and other aid to the group.
The US designation of the BLA comes amid a spike in militant violence in Pakistan's Balochistan, which Islamabad has blamed on India and Afghanistan. New Delhi and Kabul deny the allegation.
On Monday, Pakistan Railways suspended all train services to and from the insurgency-hit southwestern province for four days after separatists blew up a railway track, derailing six cars of the Jaffar Express train, officials said. The BLA claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as Pakistan prepares to mark its 79th Independence Day on Aug. 14.
Separatist groups operating in the mineral-rich region accuse the central government of stealing their resources to fund development elsewhere in the country. The federal government denies the allegations and says it is working for the uplift of local communities in Balochistan.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Arab News
German govt sued over Afghan refugees deported from Pakistan
BERLIN: German rights groups took to the courts Friday on behalf of Afghans who were offered refuge by Berlin but are now caught between Chancellor Friedrich Merz's immigration crackdown and a wave of deportations from Pakistan. Refugee support groups filed cases against Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, accusing them of "abandonment and failure to render assistance" to Afghans who were previously promised asylum in Germany. The group Pro Asyl said Pakistan had detained hundreds of Afghans this week in an escalating series of arrests and deported 34, placing them at risk of "arbitrary imprisonment, mistreatment or even execution" in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. "We came to Pakistan one year ago because of the promise of the German government," a 27-year-old Afghan women's rights activist told AFP, asking not to be named for security reasons. "In the last few days that the police have been searching for us, my children and I have become sick," said the mother-of-two, who added that she was "terrified and anxious" after several friends were arrested. She and her family are among thousands of Afghans whom Germany offered to take in under a scheme set up under former chancellor Olaf Scholz in the wake of the Taliban's 2021 takeover. It offered asylum to Afghans who had worked with German institutions or who were particularly threatened by the Taliban, including journalists and human rights activists, as well as their families. However, the program has been put on hold as part of a stricter immigration policy brought in under conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took office in May. This has left around 2,000 Afghans stranded in Pakistan waiting for visas to travel to Germany. "I am worried that if the police arrest us, they will hand us over straight away to the Taliban, and then my identity will be revealed to them and I couldn't imagine what they will do to me and my family," said the Afghan activist. "I am devastated." The Kabul Airbridge initiative, which aims to help those stuck in Pakistan, said that another 270 Afghans who had been accepted under the German scheme faced being deported on Friday and that at least four more guesthouses had been raided. The group said that while there had been previous cases of Afghans in the scheme being deported, the raids over the past few days were of a "different order of magnitude." According to Kabul Airbridge, the German government and the GIZ development agency have previously managed to stop deportations but it was far from certain they could do so now given the numbers involved. Pakistan first launched a deportation drive in 2023 and renewed it in April when it rescinded hundreds of thousands of residence permits for Afghans, threatening to arrest those who did not leave. Many Afghans have braved the heat and monsoon rains in parks, terrified of being swept up in the arrests. Wadephul, in a statement marking the fourth anniversary of the Taliban's return to power, voiced "deep concern" over the fate of those at risk of deportation and said Germany was making representations for them with Pakistani authorities "at the highest level." However, Berlin has continued to keep the admissions program on ice, despite a court ruling last month which found that it had a "legally binding commitment" to give visas to those who had been accepted under the program. Immigration has been a hot-button topic in Europe's biggest economy, pushed strongly by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. A string of violent attacks committed by foreign nationals, including Afghans, before February's election led Merz to tighten borders, promise to end the admissions scheme and to increase deportations of convicted criminals to Afghanistan and elsewhere. Those in limbo in Pakistan do not understand why they have to pay the price, among them a 33-year-old man who worked with the Germans in Afghanistan for three years on humanitarian projects. "We did not expect to be rewarded with this after working for Germany's goals," he told AFP, saying that he, his wife and their three children, after waiting in Pakistan for over a year, had been left in "panic and anxiety" by the police raids. "We fled from darkness, violence, injustice and oppression, now we are treated this way."
Arab News
9 hours ago
- Arab News
Pakistan launches third Chinese-built Hangor-class submarine amid deepening defense ties
KARACHI: Pakistan on Friday launched its third Hangor-class submarine in China, the navy said in a statement, in the latest sign of the country's growing military ties with Beijing. The launch comes months after Pakistan's brief but intense military standoff with India, which saw the two nuclear-armed neighbors exchange air, missile, drone and artillery attacks. In recent years, Islamabad has strengthened its defence collaboration with China, inducting state-of-the-art Chinese hardware across all three services, including Z-10ME attack helicopters earlier this month and JF-17 fighter jets jointly developed with Beijing. The navy said the new vessel, equipped with modern sensors and weapons, will enhance its capabilities to safeguard national interests and contribute to a 'secure and cooperative maritime environment.' 'Their cutting-edge weaponry and advanced sensors would be instrumental in sustaining regional power equilibrium and ensuring maritime stability,' Vice Admiral Abdul Samad, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Project-2, said at the launch ceremony in Wuhan, according to a navy statement. The launch took place at Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group's Shuangliu Base and was attended by senior officials from both Pakistan and China, including representatives of China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Company Ltd (CSOC). Samad commended the steady progress of the project, praised the work of Chinese shipbuilders and said the Hangor-class program would 'bring a fresh dimension' to Pakistan-China naval cooperation. The submarines are a new generation of diesel-electric attack vessels and equipped with advanced sensors and modern weapon systems to strengthen the country's underwater warfare capabilities. Pakistan signed a contract with CSOC to acquire eight Hangor-class submarines. Four are being built in China, while the remaining four will be produced in Pakistan at Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Works Limited under a transfer-of-technology program. The first two submarines in the series were launched in 2024, with deliveries expected over the next several years.
Arab News
14 hours ago
- Arab News
India says international court lacks authority to rule on Pakistan water treaty
NEW DELHI: The international Court of Arbitration lacks any legal authority to make pronouncements on the Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan as New Delhi has never recognized the legitimacy of the court, India's foreign ministry said on Thursday. A ruling from the Court of Arbitration last week backed Pakistan by saying that India must adhere to the Indus Waters Treaty in the design of new hydro-electric power stations on rivers that flow west into Pakistan. Under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, three rivers that flow westwards were awarded to Pakistan, with India getting three eastern flowing rivers. Pakistan fears its neighbor India could choke its main water supply, with 80 percent of the country's agriculture and hydro-power dependent on those three river flows. In 2023, Pakistan brought a case to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration over the design of Indian hydro-power projects on rivers that were awarded to Pakistan under the treaty. The court, in a ruling on Friday that was posted on its website on Monday, said it had jurisdiction over the dispute and ruled the treaty 'does not permit India to generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers based on what might be the ideal or best practices approach for engineering' of these projects. Instead, the design of these projects must adhere 'strictly' to the specifications laid down in the treaty, the court said. Pakistan's Attorney General, Mansoor Usman, said in an interview on Tuesday that, by and large, the court had accepted Pakistan's position, especially on the design issue of the new hydropower projects. 'I am sure it is clear now that India cannot construct any of these projects in violation of the court's decision,' he told Reuters. Pakistan's foreign ministry said late Monday that the court ruling said that India had to 'let flow' the waters of the three rivers for Pakistan's unrestricted use. The court said its findings are final and binding on both countries, according to the foreign office statement. An Indian official pointed to a June statement by India's foreign ministry, which said that India has never recognized the existence in law of the Court of Arbitration. Tensions between the two countries over the Indus Waters Treaty soared when India unilaterally said in April that it would hold the treaty in abeyance in response to the killing of 26 civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir, an attack it blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan denied involvement. Conflict then erupted in May, the most serious fighting between the two countries in decades, before it ended with a ceasefire announcement by US President Donald Trump.
