U.S. designates Baloch separatists as a terror group over role in attacks in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani officials on Tuesday welcomed a move by the U.S. State Department to designate a Pakistani separatist group as a foreign terrorist organization.
The designation of the Balochistan Liberation Army and its fighting wing, the Majeed Brigade, blamed for deadly attacks in Balochistan province, coincides with a visit to the U.S. by Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Washington and Islamabad reached a trade agreement expected to allow U.S. firms to help develop Pakistan's largely untapped oil reserves in resource-rich Balochistan and lower trade tariffs for Islamabad.
Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the designation Tuesday, noting that the BLA was banned at home in 2024.
'Pakistan remains a steadfast bulwark against terrorism. Our sacrifices have secured critical counterterrorism successes, not only for the country, but for regional stability and global security,' it said in a statement.
The BLA was first designated as a terrorist group in 2019 by the U.S. Treasury Department after several attacks. The State Department said its new designation was added because the group has since claimed responsibility for additional attacks.
The new designation means the BLA is now considered a foreign terrorist organization and its supporters will face tougher scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe, analysts said.
The BLA claimed responsibility for suicide bombings near the airport in Karachi and in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan in 2024, the U.S. statement said.
It added that the group said it carried out the March hijacking 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,' the statement said.
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said the designation of the BLA and its Majeed Brigade fighting wing follows Munir's visits to the U.S.
The designation 'indicates a major policy shift by the Trump administration toward South Asia, highlighting the growing role of military diplomacy, deepening bilateral cooperation on counterterrorism, and showing that Washington shares Pakistan's security concerns about Baloch insurgents,' Ali said.
The change also shows the U.S. values stability in Pakistan and its oil- and gas-rich Balochistan province, he 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.
While Pakistan's government says it has quelled insurgency, violence persists in Balochistan, where troops last week killed 47 insurgents in two separate operations in the Zhob district. The military said Tuesday it killed three additional insurgents in Zhob, raising the number of militants killed to 50 since Thursday.
An explosion on Tuesday ripped through an arms depot in Nowshera, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, residents said. There was no immediate statement from police or the military, but authorities were expected to release a statement.
___
Riaz Khan contributed from Peshawar, Pakistan.
Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
15 hours ago
- CTV News
Ukraine says fighting ‘difficult' after reports of Russia's rapid gains
People sleep on the platform of a metro station as they take cover during a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) Ukraine said Tuesday it was engaged in 'difficult' battles with Russian forces after Moscow had made rapid advances in a narrow but important section of the front line in the country's east. The gains came just days before US President Donald Trump was to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska for talks on the war, the first meeting between a sitting US and Russian leader since 2021. U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 Summit on July 7, 2017, in Hamburg, Germany. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) The Ukrainian army said it was engaged in 'heavy' battles with Russian forces attempting to penetrate its defences. 'The situation is difficult and dynamic,' it said in a statement. A map published by Ukrainian battlefield monitor DeepState, which has close ties with Ukraine's military, showed Russia had advanced around 10 kilometres (six miles) over around two days, deep into a narrow section of the eastern front line. The corridor -- now apparently under Russian control -- threatens the town of Dobropillia, a mining hub that civilians are fleeing and that has come under Russian drone attacks. It also further isolates the destroyed town of Kostiantynivka, one of the last large urban areas in the Donetsk region still held by Ukraine. APTOPIX Russia Ukraine War Ukrainian servicemen of the 148th artillery brigade fire from a M777 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) 'New offensive operations' The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based observatory, said Russia was sending small sabotage groups forwards. It said it was 'premature' to call the Russian advances in around Dobropillia 'an operational-level breakthrough'. The military's Operational-Tactical Group Donetsk, which oversees parts of the front in the industrial region, also said Russia was probing Ukrainian lines with small sabotage groups, describing battles as 'complex, unpleasant and dynamic'. Trump has described his summit with Putin on Friday as a chance to check the Russian leader's ideas for ending the war. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky warned ahead of the talks that Moscow was laying the groundwork for further attacks, after Trump said on Monday that both sides would have to swap territory for peace. APTOPIX Russia Ukraine War Ukrainian soldiers from air-defence unit of 59th brigade fire at Russian strike drones in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP) European leaders have meanwhile sought to ensure respect for Kyiv's interests. 'We see that the Russian army is not preparing to end the war. On the contrary, they are making movements that indicate preparations for new offensive operations,' Zelensky said in a statement on social media. Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, has made costly but incremental gains across the sprawling front in recent months and claims to have annexed four Ukrainian regions while still fighting to control them. Ukrainian police meanwhile said that Russian attacks in the past hours had killed three people and wounded 12 others, including a child.
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
U.S. designates Baloch separatists as a terror group over role in attacks in Pakistan
FILE -In this frame grab from a video released by the Baluchistan Liberation Army shows people outside the a train after being attacked by the BLA on its transit from Quetta to the northern city of Peshawar, in Bolan district, Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, March 12, 2025..(BLA via AP, File) ISLAMABAD — Pakistani officials on Tuesday welcomed a move by the U.S. State Department to designate a Pakistani separatist group as a foreign terrorist organization. The designation of the Balochistan Liberation Army and its fighting wing, the Majeed Brigade, blamed for deadly attacks in Balochistan province, coincides with a visit to the U.S. by Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The announcement comes less than two weeks after Washington and Islamabad reached a trade agreement expected to allow U.S. firms to help develop Pakistan's largely untapped oil reserves in resource-rich Balochistan and lower trade tariffs for Islamabad. Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the designation Tuesday, noting that the BLA was banned at home in 2024. 'Pakistan remains a steadfast bulwark against terrorism. Our sacrifices have secured critical counterterrorism successes, not only for the country, but for regional stability and global security,' it said in a statement. The BLA was first designated as a terrorist group in 2019 by the U.S. Treasury Department after several attacks. The State Department said its new designation was added because the group has since claimed responsibility for additional attacks. The new designation means the BLA is now considered a foreign terrorist organization and its supporters will face tougher scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe, analysts said. The BLA claimed responsibility for suicide bombings near the airport in Karachi and in the port city of Gwadar in Balochistan in 2024, the U.S. statement said. It added that the group said it carried out the March hijacking 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,' the statement said. Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said the designation of the BLA and its Majeed Brigade fighting wing follows Munir's visits to the U.S. The designation 'indicates a major policy shift by the Trump administration toward South Asia, highlighting the growing role of military diplomacy, deepening bilateral cooperation on counterterrorism, and showing that Washington shares Pakistan's security concerns about Baloch insurgents,' Ali said. The change also shows the U.S. values stability in Pakistan and its oil- and gas-rich Balochistan province, he 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. While Pakistan's government says it has quelled insurgency, violence persists in Balochistan, where troops last week killed 47 insurgents in two separate operations in the Zhob district. The military said Tuesday it killed three additional insurgents in Zhob, raising the number of militants killed to 50 since Thursday. An explosion on Tuesday ripped through an arms depot in Nowshera, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, residents said. There was no immediate statement from police or the military, but authorities were expected to release a statement. ___ Riaz Khan contributed from Peshawar, Pakistan. Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Toronto Star
US designates Baloch separatists as a terror group over role in attacks in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States has designated a Baloch separatist group as a foreign terrorist organization, the State Department said, a move hailed Tuesday by Pakistani officials. 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.
