 "After Pak Army Chief Munir's visit, US designates Baloch Liberation Army as Foreign Terrorist Organisation")
The United States Department of State on Monday (August 11) announced that it has designated Pakistan-based Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its armed wing, The Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTOs).
The statement said the State Department is designating BLA and its alias, The Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), and adding the Majeed Brigade as an alias to BLA’s Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designation from 2019.
The move comes shortly after Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, visited Washington DC and threatened to wipe out half the world with nuclear weapons.
The US State Department said that in 2024, BLA claimed responsibility for suicide attacks near Karachi airport and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex.
In 2025, the group came into the limelight once more for orchestrating the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train travelling from Quetta to Peshawar in March, which resulted in the deaths of 31 civilians and security personnel, and over 300 passengers being taken hostage.
“Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against this scourge and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,” the State Department said.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe action, it said, “demonstrates the Trump administration’s commitment to countering terrorism”.
Despite such lofty statements, the US administration under President Donald Trump, continues to build closer ties with Pakistan, which has not only been on and off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list, but is also known to have given shelter to the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Hafiz Saeed.
In fact, the warming ties between Washington and Islamabad, as well as Field Marshal Munir’s second visit to the US in as many months, come despite Pakistan Army’s overt support to terrorists behind the globally condemned Pahalgam terror attack. Pictures of Pakistan Army personnel attending the funerals of terrorists killed in Operation Sindoor had earlier gone viral.
Also notable is that the new designation to BLA, which Pakistan claims (without evidence) is an India-backed group, gives the powerful military man, Field Marshal Munir, a much-needed diplomatic win.
He, and Pakistan, had been embarrassed on the global stage when Pakistani politicians defended the TRF after it was designated a terrorist organisation. The humiliation was only compounded when India presented proof that multiple Pakistan Air Force fighter jets had been downed during Operation Sindoor.
In light of these events, a crucial question remains: Does the Trump administration truly have a “commitment to countering terrorism” or only a relationship of convenience with the issue?
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