Washington (TDI): The United States has officially listed the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its militant faction, the Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the State Department announced on Monday.
The Majeed Brigade has also been added as an alias to the BLA’s earlier designation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity, a status the group first received in 2019.
Since then, the BLA has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly assaults, many of them executed by the Majeed Brigade. These include the 2024 suicide bombings near Karachi airport and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex.
Earlier this year, the group also said it was behind the March hijacking of the Jaffar Express, which was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar. That attack left 31 civilians and security personnel dead and saw more than 300 passengers taken hostage.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the designations underscore the Trump administration’s resolve to fight terrorism, describing them as a tool to cut off resources and networks that enable militant violence.
Islamabad has been urging Washington to take this step, most recently in July, after the US listed The Resistance Front as a terrorist organization over its alleged role in the April 22 attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), which claimed 26 lives. That incident triggered the fiercest clashes between India and Pakistan in decades, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad, a charge Pakistan rejected.
Pakistan has branded the BLA and its Majeed Brigade as Fitna al-Hindustan, accusing them of waging violence with Indian backing. The Foreign Office reiterated in July that Pakistan has long been a frontline state in the global fight against terrorism, contributing significantly to peace and security efforts.
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Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti welcomed Washington’s decision, crediting the federal government and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, who held high-level meetings in the US, for effectively presenting Pakistan’s position to the Trump administration.
“The BLA and Majeed Brigade have shed the blood of innocent people in the name of rights and ethnicity,” Bugti said, urging the international community to unite against the threat of terrorism.
Farkhund Yousafzai is an Associate Editor at The Diplomatic Insight. He is a seasoned journalist and analyst with over a decade of experience in the media industry. He has deep expertise in national politics and international relations and regularly contributes as an analyst to national and international media outlets.
