Pakistan’s envoy warns Afghan safe havens have emboldened BLA, TTP after Taliban takeover
Permanent representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad Photo: APP
UNITED NATIONS:
A senior Pakistani diplomat has called on the UN Security Council to “act swiftly” to designate the “foreign-funded” Balochistan Liberation Army 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.
The United States has already labelled the Balochistan Liberation Army as a “foreign terrorist” organisation.
“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,” he told the 15-member Council.
Ahmad 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).
“We must effectively tackle the terrorist threats from Afghanistan,” he said, adding that terrorist groups such as BLA and TTP were operating from Afghan soil with the “active support of our eastern neighbour.”
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.
He said that BLA claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks across multiple locations in Balochistan over the past weekend that resulted in the martyrdom of 48 innocent civilians, including 5 women and 3 children.
“As a front-line state”, he said, Pakistan has suffered more than 90,000 casualties and major economic losses, citing the country’s role in dismantling Al-Qaeda and countering ISIL-Khorasan Province.
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Ahmad also stressed the need for accountability of external destabilising 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 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-recognised 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 the 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 nationalists, fascists, fascist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and anti-Muslim groups, and similar ideologies in various parts of the world.”
“Terrorism can be defeated only through unity and cooperation, without any double standards or discrimination, addressing the root causes and by preventing its exploitation for politically motivated agendas,” the Pakistani envoy added.
Opening the debate, Alexandre Zouev, Acting Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, told the Council that Da’esh and its affiliated terrorist groups continued to adapt and demonstrate resilience despite sustained counter-terrorism pressure as he presented the Secretary-General’s latest biannual report on the threat ISIL/Da’esh poses to international peace and security.
Da’esh and its affiliates continue to expand in parts of Africa, particularly West Africa and the Sahel, with Islamic State West Africa Province further strengthening its presence in the Lake Chad Basin region, he said. The group remains active in Iraq and Syria, while ISIL-Khorasan (ISIL-K) continues to pose a major threat in Afghanistan and beyond, having claimed responsibility for the 19 January terrorist attack at a restaurant in Kabul.
Zouev said AI and other technologies are increasingly being used to fuel radicalisation and recruitment, particularly targeting youth and children, while commercial satellite communication systems are being exploited for low-cost and secure communications.
Turning to priorities identified by the Secretary-General, he highlighted three areas of concern: the dire conditions in camps and detention facilities in north-east Syria and the need for safe, voluntary and dignified repatriation; the deteriorating security situation in parts of Africa, requiring political ownership and coordinated regional responses; and the need for whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches grounded in the rule of law, human rights and inclusive, nationally owned prevention.
“The intensification of the threat posed by Da’esh and its affiliates, despite significant national and international efforts, underscores the imperative to sustain global cooperation on counter-terrorism,” Zouev said. The ninth review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy this year provides an opportunity for Member States to reaffirm commitments, assess progress since 2023 and address emerging and evolving threats.
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Natalia Gherman, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, said that in 2025, the Directorate conducted assessment visits to Austria, Cameroon, Chad, Hungary, Malta, Norway and Somalia, and it is leading a visit this week to Tajikistan. “We work closely with each Member State that we visit” to provide tailored support and recommendations, she said, also describing a recent gathering of countries in Kenya aimed at helping to combat terrorists’ increasingly sophisticated use of the internet.
Among other recent work, German said the Directorate published its fourth Thematic Summary of Gaps, focused on Africa, and is supporting international efforts to disrupt the use of virtual assets and new financial technologies for terrorist purposes. In line with its analytical mandate to identify issues, trends and new developments, it published a report on threats to critical infrastructure in partnership with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). “The threat posed by the terrorist use of unmanned aerial systems has emerged as a priority for many Member States,” she said, also citing increasingly advanced digital methods now used to exploit children.
