US designates Baloch Liberation Army, alias Majeed Brigade as foreign terrorist entity
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – US State Department on Monday designated Balochistan Liberation Army and its alias, The Majeed Brigade, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The Majeed Brigade was also added as an alias to the BLA’s previous Specially Designated Global Terrorists designation, the State Department stated.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press statement “Today, the Department of State is designating The Balochistan Liberation Army 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 designation,”.
He added, “BLA was designated as an SDGT in 2019 following several terrorist attacks. Since 2019, BLA has claimed responsibility for additional attacks, including by the Majeed Brigade.
“In 2024, BLA claimed it had committed suicide attacks near the airport in Karachi and the Gwadar Port Authority Complex. In 2025, BLA claimed responsibility for the March hijacking of the Jaffar Express train traveling from Quetta to Peshawar, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding hostage over 300 train passengers,” Rubio stated.
The State Department said that the move demonstrated the Donald Trump Administration’s commitment to countering terrorist activities.
“Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against this scourge and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities,” he said.
The US move came weeks after Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir’s White House dinner with US President Donald Trump, is hailed by many in Pakistan as a diplomatic victory of Islamabad.
