A senior Pakistani diplomat has called on the UN Security Council to “act swiftly” to designate the “foreign-funded” Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a terrorist group under its sanctions regime, established by Resolution 1267 in 1999, as he renewed Pakistan’s pledge to combat and eradicate terrorists on its soil.
Speaking in a Council debate on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security caused by Terrorist Acts’, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said that terrorist groups such as Fitna al Khawarij (TTP ) and Fitna al Hindustan (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade got a “new lease of life” after the Taliban takeover in Kabul.
“We hope the Council will act swiftly to designate BLA under the 1267 sanctions regime, acceding to the listing request that is currently under consideration,” the Pakistani envoy told the 15-member Council.
On its part, he said the international community must address the contemporary terrorist threat through a “collective, comprehensive and coordinated response” including through the balanced implementation of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy (GCTS).
In this regard, Ambassador Asim Ahmad said, “We must effectively tackle the terrorist threats from Afghanistan,” pointing out that terrorist groups such as BLA and TTP were operating with virtual impunity from Afghan soil and with the “active support of our eastern neighbour (obviously a reference to India),” committing “heinous terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.”
As documented by the Council’s Monitoring Team, he added, , the Afghan de facto authorities (DFA) provide a permissive environment for a range of terrorist groups, notably TTP; Al-Qaeda, ISIL-K (Da’esh) remains active with an external focus and ETIM/TIP members move freely within Afghanistan. “These terrorist groups pose a threat not only to Pakistan, but to the entire region and beyond. Recent terrorist activity in Central Asia close to the Afghan border has validated earlier warnings,” the Pakistani envoy said, adding, “It has become imperative to prevent the billions of dollars of sophisticated weapons and equipment left behind by foreign forces in Afghanistan, from falling into the hands of terrorists.
Just this weekend, he pointed out that BLA claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks across multiple locations in Balochistan Province of Pakistan that resulted in the martyrdom of 48 innocent civilians, including 5 women and 3 children.
Ambassador Asim Ahmad also stressed the need for accountability of external destabilizing actors who support, finance and arm these groups, including their proxies in Afghanistan. “There must be zero tolerance for state terrorism – of the type on crass display in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and other situations of foreign occupation”, he said.
“Occupation and accompanying repression cannot be masked as counterterrorism to suppress the internationally-recognized and UN-sanctioned legitimate struggles of peoples against foreign occupation and for their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and international legitimacy.”
In this context, Ambassador Asim Ahmad called on UN counter terrorism architecture and sanctions regimes to ensure that they adequately respond to current challenges and represent a fair, just and comprehensive mechanism to address the global scourge of terrorism.
“Counter-terrorism policies have so far singled out only the adherents of one religion – that’s Muslims,” he pointed out. “There is a need to encompass the new and emerging forms of terrorism, including white supremacists, far right extremists, violent nationalist, fascist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and anti-Muslim groups, and similar ideologies in various parts of the world.”