Pakistan urges global drive to block flows of illicit arms to TTP, BLA

UNITED NATIONS: A Pakistani diplomat has called for concerted efforts to intercept clandestine flows of modern and sophisticated weapons that support UN-sanctioned armed groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade who he said use safe havens in Afghanistan to launch deadly cross-border attacks inside Pakistan.

“Terrorist armed groups are in possession of billions worth of illicit arms abandoned in Afghanistan,” Syed Atif Raza, a counsellor at the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations, told an Arria-Formua meeting of the UN Security Council, convened by Sierra Leone.

This format of Council’s meeting is named after a former Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN, Diego Arriva. It is a consultation process which affords members of the Security Council the opportunity to hear persons in an informal setting.

Speaking in a debate on ‘Small Arms and Light Weapons Management in UN Sanctions Regimes’, the Pakistani delegate said such armament was being used by TTP and BLA terrorists in violence against civilians and armed forces of Pakistan. “These terrorist entities also receive external support and financing from our principal adversary,” Counsellor Raza said in an obvious reference to India. “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.”