Baloch rebel group on US terror list: What Uncle Sam sees in Balochistan

The US designation of the Balochistan Liberation Army as a 'foreign terror group' signals growing ties with Pakistan. But there's more that Trump administration is eyeing in the region

The US has formally added the Pakistan-based Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its fighting arm, the Majeed Brigade, to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations. It also updated Treasury sanction listings that already tied the BLA to prior counter-terror measures.

 

The Federal Register and the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published the legal notices on August 11, and the State Department presser framed the move as part of "counter-terror cooperation" with Islamabad.

 

But what prompted the Donald Trump-led US administration to designate BLA as a terrorist organisation? Is there more than what meets the eye?

 

 

The American interest in Balochistan

 

US officials pointed to an uptick in lethal strikes and high-profile attacks attributed to the BLA in 2024-25, including a March 2025 train hijack that killed dozens, and "repeated assaults" on security convoys and infrastructure in Balochistan.

 

Officially, Washington says the designation is aimed at disrupting groups that attack civilians and foreign nationals and at limiting the flow of funds and material to insurgent networks.

 

However, there's more than what meets the eye.

 

The US has long been observing China's growing influence in the region through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, which helped Beijing gain both strategic and economic heft. Now, the US too wants its share of Pakistan’s most promising mineral and energy assets.

 

In practice, this translates into tighter counter-terror cooperation with Pakistan, assurances for foreign projects, and emerging commercial interest in mineral and energy deals in Balochistan.

 

How big is the prize in Balochistan for the US?

 

Balochistan is home to one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits at Reko Diq. Estimates suggest that Reko Diq is believed to hold around 16,098 thousand ounces of gold and 27,173 million pounds of copper, with an anticipated mine life of 40-45 years, according to a report by The Express Tribune. By 2032, its annual output is projected to reach 80 million metric tons, potentially enabling Pakistan’s copper reserves to meet a significant share of global demand for decades.

 

Other than this, the province also holds a good amount of lithium, rare-earth elements, and chromite. The province produces 90 per cent of Pakistan’s chromite, has more than 200 million tons of iron ore, over 185 billion tons of coal, and significant reserves of marble and sulfur.

 

The rare earths are of critical value for the US at a time when it is engaged in a tariff war with China. Beijing controls over 70 per cent of global production and refining capacity of rare earth elements, and the ongoing trade war has heightened Washington's vulnerability.

 

Pakistan’s wider energy picture shows proven gas reserves in the order of roughly 18-19 trillion cubic feet nationally (estimates vary by dataset and whether shale is included), one which is of great interest for the US.

 

How has China’s CPEC performed in Balochistan?

 

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) put Gwadar and other Balochistan projects at the centre of a multibillion-dollar plan. Some projects have advanced, but security incidents, local insurgency and delays have dogged implementation. Attacks on Chinese personnel in the province have prompted stronger security deployments.

 

This may have created an opening for Washington to offer alternatives or safeguards to partners, a dynamic that helps explain heightened US diplomatic and commercial engagement. By putting the BLA on its terror list, the US seems to be eliminating the roadblock that hampered China's CPEC in the region.

 

Why Pakistan has been courting Trump

 

The US' ties with Pakistan have swung over decades — from a Cold War partnership to wartime counterterrorism collaboration after 2001 — accompanied by large aid and security programmes that have both thrived and run into diplomatic brick walls, depending on Washington's strategic priorities.

 

What is new is the pairing of an explicit counter-terror designation in Balochistan, right alongside visible trade and investment discussions between Washington and Islamabad.

 

In June, Pakistan's Army chief General Asim Munir embarked on an unprecedented visit to the US and had a private lunch with Trump at the White House. Back home, Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, the chairman of Pakistan's Board of Investment, spilled the beans over the purpose of Munir's visit to the US.

 

During his speech in the National Assembly, Sheikh said that Munir was in Washington to negotiate deals on Balochistan's minerals with Trump.

 

"Gen. Asim Munir is in the USA to negotiate deals on Balochistan's minerals with Trump" reveals Federal Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh (Investment Minister).  Until now, Pakistani and American media have remained silent about the closed-door meeting between Gen. Asim Munir and… pic.twitter.com/Ype40NGlZY

— OsintTV ???? (@OsintTV) June 21, 2025

 

Recently, Trump promised to help Pakistan explore its oil reserves, framing it as part of a broader trade partnership.

 

Through its unrelenting courting of Trump, Islamabad aims to destabilise its more powerful neighbour India’s ties with the US, which have grown exponentially in the last decade.

 

What could this mean for the Baloch people?

 

Local Baloch leaders and human rights groups have been warning that securitised responses can deepen grievances if economic benefits do not reach communities. Islamabad has already tightened controls, including temporary mobile internet shutdowns and stepped up military operations, arguing they are necessary to protect workers and infrastructure. The US move will likely strengthen Islamabad’s international position on the insurgency.

 

However, it also risks further hardening of local resistance if the long-standing demands of the Baloch people, of governance and revenue-sharing questions, are not addressed.

 

The US designation of the BLA now closely aligns Washington — and, more visibly, Pakistan — on security, and comes alongside growing US commercial interest in Pakistan’s energy and mineral projects, all against a backdrop of contested control over Balochistan’s rich resources and anxieties about who benefits from them.