Pak, China push UN to designate BLA, its Majeed Brigade as terrorist entity

Pakistan's UN envoy said groups like ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, TTP, ETIM, and BLA operate from Afghan sanctuaries with over 60 terror camps enabling cross-border attacks

Pakistan and China have submitted a joint bid at the UN Security Council to designate the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its suicide wing - Majeed Brigade - as a terrorist entity under the Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said on Wednesday that terrorist entities, including ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, the BLA and its Majeed Brigade, operate from Afghan sanctuaries, with more than 60 terror camps serving as hubs for enabling cross-border attacks.

Pakistan and China have jointly submitted to the 1267 Sanctions Committee a request to designate the BLA and Majeed Brigade. We hope the Council will act swiftly on this listing to curb their terrorist activities, Ahmed said at the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.

Pakistan currently sits in the 15-nation Security Council as a non-permanent member for the 2025-26 term, while China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the powerful UN body.

Pakistan is the chair of the 1988 Taliban Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council for 2025, as well as the vice-chair of the Counter-Terrorism Committee.

Ahmed said the Afghan Taliban authorities must fulfil their international obligations on counter-terrorism. "Terrorism emanating from Afghanistan remains the gravest threat to Pakistan's national security, he said.

The Majeed Brigade, formed in 2011, is the suicide squad of the BLA, and it mostly targets security forces and Chinese interests in Pakistan.

Last month, the US designated the BLA and its Majeed Brigade as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. The State Department added the Majeed Brigade as an alias to BLA's previous Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designation.

It said the action demonstrated the "Trump Administration's commitment to countering terrorism".

BLA was designated as an SDGT by Washington in 2019 following several terrorist attacks. Since then, the group has claimed responsibility for additional attacks, including by the Majeed Brigade, the State Department had said.

It also said that in 2024, BLA claimed it had committed suicide attacks near the airport in Karachi and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex.

In 2025, the outfit claimed responsibility for the March hijacking of the Jaffar Express train travelling from Quetta to Peshawar, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding hostage over 300 passengers.