US, UK, France block Pakistan, China’s bid to sanction Balochistan Liberation Army at the UN

The United States, United Kingdom, and France have blocked a joint Pakistan-China bid to sanction the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Majeed Brigade at the United Nation. This decision follows Washington's declaration of both groups as Foreign Terrorist Organisations last month.

The US and its allies said there was insufficient evidence linking the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Majeed Brigade to Al Qaeda or ISIL to justify sanctions under the UN 1267 regime. Pakistan and China had submitted the joint request to the UN Security Council to list these groups.

On Wednesday, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, said terrorist groups including ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Balochistan Liberation Army, and the Majeed Brigade were operating and launching cross-border attacks from Afghanistan. He added that terrorism from Afghanistan remains Pakistan’s primary national security threat and urged the Taliban-led Afghan government to meet its international counter-terrorism commitments.

Ahmed said, "Pakistan and China have jointly submitted to the 1267 Sanctions Committee a request to designate the Balochistan Liberation Army and Majeed Brigade. We hope the Council will act swiftly on this listing to curb their terrorist activities."

The Balochistan Liberation Army has been under US scrutiny for years and was first designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2019 after being linked to several terrorist incidents. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks, including suicide bombings and high-profile assaults carried out by the Majeed Brigade.