Written by Shubhajit RoyNew Delhi | September 20, 2025 03:41 AM IST 3 min readPakistan was hoping that following the BLA’s designation by the US State Department, it would be able to get the grouping designated at the UNSC as well.The US, France and the UK have teamed up to put a “technical hold” on Pakistan’s bid to list the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its alias, Majeed Brigade, as terrorist groups at the UN Security Council’s 1267 sanctions committee.Pakistan, a non-permanent member at the UNSC, had China, a permanent member, backing the proposal, but three other permanent members of the Security Council said the BLA does not have links with Al Qaeda or ISIL.On September 17, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmed, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, had told a meeting of the UN Security Council: “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.”Unless Islamabad is able to furnish more information that links the BLA and Majeed Brigade to the two terror groups, the UNSC’s 1267 sanctions committee – it deals with terror groups with links to Al Qaeda and ISIS – won’t be able to list it, Pakistan and China have been told.On August 11, the US Department of State designated both the BLA and Majeed Brigade as Foreign Terrorist Organisations.The BLA was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2019 following several attacks. Since 2019, the BLA has claimed responsibility for additional attacks, including by the Majeed Brigade. In 2024, the BLA claimed it had carried out suicide attacks near the airport in Karachi and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex.In March this year, the BLA claimed responsibility for the hijacking of the Jaffar Express, travelling from Quetta to Peshawar. Over 300 passengers were taken hostage and 31 people were killed.Story continues below this adPakistan was hoping that following the BLA’s designation by the US State Department, it would be able to get the grouping designated at the UNSC as well.ExplainedBaloch people feel that the Pakistani state has denied their impoverished province the fruits of its own mineral wealth. The BLA emerged in the early 2000s. The killing in 2006 of their leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti led to the rise of Baloch militancy. Bugti had long been a bridge between radical nationalists and the Pakistani state.This was after the US also designated the Resistance Front, a shadow outfit of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, as a terror outfit in July, following the Pahalgam terrorist attack.The TRF, which had claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, had found a mention in the UNSC report monitoring sanctions on terror outfits.But the US, it appears, has changed tack, and has been aided by France and the UK, in putting a technical hold, which usually lasts about six months.Story continues below this adSources said Delhi will be watching this space closely since it has been accused in the past by Islamabad of providing assistance to the BLA, a claim India has always rejected.Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:UN Security CouncilUN Security Council Resolution