Washington, United States – The United States on Monday toughened its terrorist designation of separatist militants in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province who were behind a major train attack in March.
Washington had already listed the BLA under the less severe label of specially designated global terrorists, which targets financial resources.
The new step comes as President Donald Trump increases contact with Pakistan, which was kept at arm’s length by his predecessor Joe Biden, whose administration resented Islamabad’s role in the two-decade war in Afghanistan.
The designation of the separatists “demonstrates the Trump administration’s commitment to countering terrorism,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Pakistani forces have for almost two decades fought an ethnic Baloch separatist insurgency that has killed hundreds of people in the minerals-rich province.
In March, the BLA claimed responsibility for an attack on a train that was carrying 450 passengers. Dozens died in the two-day siege.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of involvement in the insurgency, a claim dismissed by New Delhi.
The Trump administration last month also designated as terrorists a shadowy group blamed for an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan.
Islamabad is especially sensitive about the militants’ threats to foreign investment, especially by China, which has poured in billions of dollars.
Baloch separatists and rights groups say the military’s heavy-handed counter-terrorism response to the insurgency has included widespread enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
