Pakistan and China‘s joint bid to list Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Majeed Brigade as terror groups under the UN 1267 regime has been blocked by the United States, United Kingdom and France at UN. Post the blocking, the proposal has been put on hold for now, with officials stating that there isn’t enough proof to connect these groups to Al Qaeda or ISIL.
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The US decision comes at a time when political tensions with India are easing and talks for a Indo-US trade deal are back on track. It marks a change from Washington’s move last month, when it placed the BLA and Majeed Brigade on its own list of foreign terrorist organizations.
That earlier step was seen as an attempt to balance the US decision to label The Resistance Front, blamed for the Pahalgam attack, as a Lashkar-e-Toiba-linked terror group.
Encouraged by this, Pakistan quickly joined hands with China to push the UN to list the BLA and Majeed Brigade as terrorist outfits under the 1267 sanctions regime. Politically, such a move would have supported Pakistan’s claim that the BLA is backed by India.
However, both Pakistan and China were in for a setback when the US placed a “technical hold” on their proposal. This is the same tactic China has often used to block or delay India-US efforts to sanction people linked to Pakistan-based terror groups like Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Because of China’s holds, three LeT leaders, including Sajid Mir, Shahid Mehmood, and Talha Saeed, are still not listed under the UN 1267 sanctions regime. In 2023, China also blocked a joint India-US move to sanction Abdul Rauf Asghar, who was said to have been killed during India’s Operation SIndoor in Bahawalpur.
Why exactly did the US block Pak-China’s joint bid?
A report by Economic Times says it has “reliably gathered” that the US has argued that UN’s 1267 sanctions list is only meant for groups linked to Al Qaeda and ISIL. Since the BLA and its Majeed Brigade are not legally connected to these outfits, they cannot be added to the list. The UK and France backed the US stand, while Russia has not yet taken a position.
Under UN rules, the proposal will now remain on hold for at least six months before it can be reconsidered. Despite this, Pakistan went public with its joint bid alongside China during a UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan meeting.
At the session, Pakistan’s representative was seeking to link the BLA with the Tehreek-e-Taliban, which is already in the 1267 list.
What is the BLA and the Majeed Brigade?
The Majeed Brigade, created in 2011, is known as the suicide wing of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). It mainly carries out attacks on security forces and Chinese projects in Pakistan, a PTI report has said.
The US had already declared the BLA a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group in 2019 after a series of attacks. Since then, the group, including its Majeed Brigade, has claimed responsibility for more strikes, according to the US State Department.