The United States has branded the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a terrorist organisation in a significant development that will help build trust between Islamabad and Washington.
The BLA has been behind a number of terrorist attacks in Balochistan. Pakistan has long considered the outfit as a terrorist organisation and repeatedly urged the US to do the same.
The banned BLA “is an armed group that targets security forces and civilians, mainly in Baloch areas of Pakistan,” the State Department said in its designation. The security forces have been fighting terrorists in Balochistan since 2004, with the militants recently finding a new focus in rallying against China’s investment that is part of its major Belt and Road initiative.
The BLA has targeted Chinese nationals in Pakistan multiple times, including a brazen daylight attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi that killed four people in November 2018.
In May, five people including a soldier were killed after gunmen stormed the only five-star hotel in Gwadar, the port city which Islamabad is hoping to develop into a major commercial hub.
Claiming responsibility for the hotel attack, the BLA warned China to stop its “exploitative projects in Balochistan” and threatened further attacks.
The US State Department said it was classifying the BLA as a global terrorist group, making it a crime for anyone in the United States to assist the militants and freezing any US assets they may have.
“The Department of State has designated the Balochistan Liberation Army and Hizbullah operative Husain Ali Hazzima as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) under Executive Order (EO) 13224,” the department confirmed in a statement.
“Additionally, the Department of State has amended the terrorist designations of Jundallah to reflect the group’s new primary name Jaish al-Adl and associated aliases. These aliases have been added to the group’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and as an SDGT under EO 13224,” it added.
The department also reviewed and maintained the FTO designation of Jundallah. “Today’s actions seek to deny Hazzima, BLA, and Jaish al-Adl the resources to plan and carry out terrorist attacks. All of their property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them.”
The State Department further said that Jundallah, which was designated as an FTO and SDGT in 2010, began using the new name Jaish al-Adl and associated aliases in 2012. Since its inception, the group has engaged in numerous attacks that have killed scores of Iranian civilians and government officials, including a February, 2019 suicide bombing and the October 2018 kidnapping of Iranian security personnel.
The development comes just weeks before the maiden visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the United States.
Pakistan hoped the action will ensure that BLA’s space to operate is minimised. “It is important that the perpetrators, organisers, financers and external sponsors, including those glorifying these acts of terror against Pakistan, are held accountable and brought to justice,” it said in a statement.
