US blocks Pakistan, China's bid at UNSC to blacklist BLA, Majeed Brigade

The US has blocked a joint bid by Pakistan and China at the UN Security Council to designate the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Majeed Brigade as a terrorist entity.

Islamabad and Beijing had in September last year submitted their joint bid to the Security Council to blacklist the BLA and the Majeed Brigade under the Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

It is learnt that the US, France and UK - all permanent veto-wielding members of the Security Council - blocked the bid this month.

Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed had said that terrorist entities, including ISIL-K, Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, East Turkistan Islamic Movement, BLA and the Majeed Brigade operate from Afghan sanctuaries, with more than 60 such terrorist camps serving as hubs for enabling cross-border infiltration and 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 had said at a UN Security Council meeting.

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 was 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.

Previously, China, a permanent, veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, had put on hold several listing proposals made by India and its partners, like the US, to designate Pakistan-based terrorists and terror entities under the Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee regime.

The US has designated the Balochistan Liberation Army and its alias, the 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.

The action taken by the Department of State "demonstrates the Trump Administration's commitment to countering terrorism. Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against this scourge and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities," the State Department had said.

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

The State Department also said that in 2024, BLA claimed it had committed suicide attacks near the airport in Karachi and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex and in 2025, the organisation had 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 train passengers.

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