The United States has formally designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its militant faction, the Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO), the US State Department announced on Monday.
The move also adds the Majeed Brigade as an alias to BLA’s previous listing as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group.
The BLA, first designated as an SDGT in 2019, has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks since then, including suicide bombings carried out by the Majeed Brigade.
In 2024, the group said it was behind suicide attacks near Karachi airport and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex.
Earlier this year, the BLA claimed responsibility for the March hijacking of the Jaffar Express train travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, which left 31 civilians and security personnel dead and saw more than 300 passengers taken hostage.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the designations reaffirm the Trump administration’s commitment to countering terrorism. He added that such measures are an effective way to disrupt support for terrorist activities.
The listing of BLA and its Majeed Brigade was a demand from Pakistan, most recently in July, after the US designated The Resistance Front as a terrorist organisation over its alleged involvement in the April 22 attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) that killed 26 people.
The incident sparked the heaviest fighting between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in decades as New Delhi blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge denied by Islamabad.
Pakistan has termed BLA and Majeed Brigade Fitna al-Hindustan, saying that the insurgent groups are conducting their anti-state activities with India’s backing.
The Foreign Office, in a statement in July, has said that it has been, and is, a frontline state against terrorism, and has contributed tremendously towards the achievement of global peace through its counter-terrorism efforts.