Pakistan has called for an international crackdown on the illegal flow of arms to terrorist organisations, warning that groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) are using advanced weapons, abandoned in Afghanistan, to carry out cross-border attacks.
Speaking at a UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting on Small Arms and Light Weapons Management in UN Sanctions Regimes, Syed Atif Raza, counsellor at Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN, said these terrorist entities were exploiting ungoverned spaces in Afghanistan to launch deadly operations targeting both civilians and security forces in Pakistan.
“Terrorist armed groups are in possession of billions worth of illicit arms abandoned in Afghanistan,” Raza told the informal consultation hosted by Sierra Leone. “We call upon our international partners to recover the vast stockpile of abandoned weapons, prevent their access to armed terrorist groups and take measures to close this thriving black market of illicit arms.”
The diplomat stressed that groups such as the TTP, BLA and its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, had not only gained access to sophisticated weaponry but were also receiving external support and funding. While not naming any country directly, Raza referred to Pakistan’s “principal adversary”—a clear reference to India.
“These terrorist entities also receive external support and financing from our principal adversary,” he said.
He added that the misuse and illicit trade of small arms and light weapons was contributing to regional instability, hampering development, and undermining peacebuilding efforts.
Raza further warned that non-state actors lack the industrial capacity to manufacture advanced arms, raising serious questions about the role of certain state actors in enabling such groups.
“We know that non-state actors do not have many of the capabilities to manufacture advanced illicit arms, thus raising questions of culpability of certain state actors in these nefarious activities,” he said.
He called on the UN to enhance mechanisms for arms recovery, improve monitoring under sanctions regimes, and increase accountability for countries involved in trafficking or facilitating such weapons.
The Arria-formula meeting, named after former Venezuelan ambassador Diego Arria, provides Security Council members an informal platform to hear from non-state actors or other stakeholders on pressing global issue.
