U.S. designates Pakistani Baloch separatists as terrorist organization

The United States is designating the Pakistani separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) as a foreign terrorist organization, the U.S. Department of State said on Monday.

The BLA is the strongest of a number of insurgent groups long operating in the areas bordering Afghanistan and Iran, a mineral-rich region in Balochistan province.

The area is also home to Beijing's investment in Gwadar deep water port on the Arabian Sea and other projects, and the port is a key component of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which is intended to serve as a major trade hub.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after Washington and Islamabad reached a trade agreement expected to allow American firms to help develop Pakistan’s largely untapped oil reserves in resource-rich Balochistan and to lower trade tariffs for Islamabad.

In a statement, the State Department said it is “designating the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, the Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), and adding the Majeed Brigade as an alias to BLA’s previous Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) designation.”

The BLA was first designated an SDGT in 2019 after several terrorist attacks. The U.S. statement said that, since then, both the group and the Majeed Brigade have claimed responsibility for additional attacks.

Recently, the BLA took responsibility for hijacking a Pakistani Jaffar Express train travelling from Quetta to Peshawar in March, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding more than 300 train passengers hostage, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

The foreign terrorist organization designation by the U.S. triggers restrictions on providing financial support and other aid to the group.

WHAT ARE THE BLA'S GOALS?

The BLA seeks independence for Balochistan, a province located in Pakistan's southwest and bordering Afghanistan to the north and Iran to the west.

It is the biggest of several ethnic insurgent groups that have battled the federal government for decades, which it says unfairly exploits Balochistan's rich gas and mineral resources.

They have been fighting to lay a claim to local resources which they say belong to their people.

Balochistan's mountainous border region serves as a safe haven and training ground for the Baloch insurgents and Islamist militants, according to officials.

The BLA often targets infrastructure and security forces in Balochistan, but has also truck in other areas - most notably the southern port city of Karachi.

The insurgents target Pakistan's army and Chinese interests, in particular the strategic port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, accusing Beijing of helping Islamabad to exploit the province.

They've killed Chinese citizens working in the region and attacked Beijing's consulate in Karachi, according to authorities.

Balochistan is an important part of China's $65 billion investment in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a wing of President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road initiative.

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