ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has officially welcomed the US State Department’s decision to designate the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its wing, the Majeed Brigade, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). This move expands on the US’s 2019 designation of the BLA as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organization. The new designation also formally lists the Majeed Brigade as an alias of the BLA.
The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement calling the action a “critical counter-terrorism success” for Pakistan and for regional and global security. The government of Balochistan’s Chief Minister, Sarfraz Bugti, echoed this sentiment, praising the federal government and Field Marshal Asim Munir for their role in presenting Pakistan’s case to the US administration. Bugti stated that “terrorism is terrorism; no cause justifies killing civilians,” and urged the world to unite against this threat.
The US decision follows a series of high-profile attacks in Pakistan, for which the BLA and Majeed Brigade have claimed responsibility. These include suicide bombings near the Karachi airport and Gwadar Port Authority complex in 2024, as well as the hijacking of the Jaffar Express train in March 2025. The train attack, which took place on a route from Quetta to Peshawar, resulted in the deaths of 31 civilians and security personnel, and over 300 passengers were held hostage.
According to a statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the designations are a demonstration of the administration’s commitment to combating terrorism and are an effective tool for “curtail[ing] support for terrorist activities.” The new FTO designation carries more severe penalties than the previous SDGT designation, making it a crime for anyone in the US to provide support to the group, whereas the SDGT designation primarily targeted financial resources.
The timing of the designation is notable as it coincides with a visit by Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to the United States. Analysts suggest the move may indicate a policy shift by the Trump administration toward South Asia, highlighting deepening cooperation on counterterrorism and showing that Washington shares Pakistan’s security concerns. The decision also comes less than two weeks after the US and Pakistan signed a trade agreement that could open up Pakistan’s oil reserves in Balochistan to American firms, a region where Baloch separatists have historically opposed foreign extraction projects. The resource-rich province has been the site of a separatist insurgency since the early 2000s, with groups like the BLA accusing the Pakistani government of exploiting the region’s resources and neglecting its population of 15 million.
