Islamabad, August 12, 2025: The United States has reiterated its resolve to combat terrorism “in all its forms” during a counter-terrorism dialogue with Pakistan, the US Embassy in Islamabad said on Tuesday.
The talks came a day after Washington designated the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, as Foreign Terrorist Organisations (FTOs) following a series of deadly attacks claimed by the group.
Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism Gregory LoGerfo and Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker represented the US side in the dialogue, which the embassy said aimed to advance both countries’ “shared commitment” to address what it called a global threat.
The BLA had previously been listed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) entity, a classification that targets its financial resources, before the ban was elevated to an FTO designation on Monday.
The latest step comes amid renewed high-level engagement between Washington and Islamabad, particularly after meetings between US President Donald Trump and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.
In March, Pakistani authorities detained and extradited Sharifullah—also known as Jafar—a Daesh-Khorasan member accused of helping orchestrate the 2021 Kabul airport suicide bombing that killed at least 170 Afghans and 13 US troops during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Trump publicly thanked Pakistan for the arrest, and the State Department emphasised that US–Pakistan counter-terrorism cooperation “remains vitally important.”
