Pakistan Urges Global Crackdown on Illicit Arms Flow to Terrorist Groups
Pakistan has urged the international community to take decisive action against the illegal trafficking of weapons to terrorist outfits, highlighting that groups like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) are using advanced arms left behind in Afghanistan to conduct cross-border attacks.
Speaking at a UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting on managing small arms and light weapons within sanctions frameworks, Syed Atif Raza, Counsellor at Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, warned that these terrorist groups are exploiting lawless regions in Afghanistan to launch deadly assaults targeting both civilians and Pakistani security personnel.
“These terrorist organizations are armed with billions of dollars’ worth of illicit weapons abandoned in Afghanistan,” Raza stated at the event hosted by Sierra Leone. “We urge our global partners to assist in retrieving these stockpiles, prevent their access to armed groups, and shut down the illegal weapons trade fueling terrorism.”
He emphasized that groups such as the TTP, BLA, and its suicide faction—the Majeed Brigade—have not only acquired modern weaponry but are also receiving financial and logistical support from external actors. Though no specific country was named, Raza pointed toward Pakistan’s “principal adversary,” a likely allusion to India.
“These groups are being supported and financed externally by our main rival,” he added.
Raza noted that the unchecked proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons is undermining peace efforts, destabilizing the region, and obstructing socioeconomic development.
He further pointed out that these non-state actors lack the capacity to produce such sophisticated weapons on their own, raising concerns about the involvement of certain governments in arming these groups.
“Since these groups cannot independently manufacture advanced arms, this raises serious questions about the role of certain states in facilitating these activities,” he said.
Pakistan called on the United Nations to enhance arms recovery efforts, strengthen monitoring under sanctions regimes, and ensure accountability for any state complicit in the illegal arms trade.
