Pakistan Urges Global Action to Block Illicit Arms Flows to TTP, BLA

APP

United Nations: Pakistan has called for coordinated international efforts to halt the illicit flow of advanced weaponry to UN-sanctioned terrorist groups, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which continue to launch deadly cross-border attacks from safe havens in Afghanistan.

Speaking at an Arria-formula meeting of the UN Security Council—convened by Sierra Leone on the theme of “Small Arms and Light Weapons Management in UN Sanctions Regimes”—Syed Atif Raza, Counselor at Pakistan’s Mission to the United Nations, raised alarm over the massive stockpile of sophisticated arms left behind in Afghanistan, now in the possession of terrorist outfits.

“Terrorist armed groups are in possession of billions worth of illicit arms abandoned in Afghanistan,” he stated, warning that these weapons are being actively used in attacks against civilians and the security forces of Pakistan.

“These terrorist entities also receive external support and financing from our principal adversary,” Counselor Raza added, in an apparent reference to India.

The Pakistani envoy urged international partners to take immediate steps to locate and recover abandoned weapons, prevent terrorist access to such stockpiles, and dismantle the illicit arms market that continues to fuel violence in the region.

Raza emphasized that the illegal proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons not only intensify armed conflicts but also obstruct socio-economic progress and undermine regional peace and security.

He further noted that non-state actors often lack the capacity to manufacture sophisticated weapons, suggesting the involvement or at least complicity of certain state actors in facilitating their access to these arms.

“We must address the growing sophistication and cross-border mobility of these weapons in the hands of terrorist groups,” he concluded.