Balochistan Liberation Army
| Balochistan Liberation Army Baloch Ajoee Lashkar |
|
|---|---|
| Participant in Balochistan conflict | |
 Flag of the Baluchistan Liberation Army |
|
| Active | |
| Ideology | Baloch nationalism |
| Leaders | Akbar Bugti † Balach Marri † Brahamdagh Bugti[1] |
| Area of operations |
Balochistan Province, Pakistan |
| Strength | 10,000[2] |
| Allies | Baloch Liberation Front, Baluch People's Liberation Front, Popular Front for Armed Resistance, Baloch Republican Army, Balochistan Liberation United Front |
| Opponents |  Pakistan |
| Battles/wars | Balochistan War 5 |
The Balochistan Liberation Army (also Baloch Liberation Army or Balochistan Liberation Army) (BLA) is a separatist group based in Balochistan, a mountainous region within southern Iran and Pakistan. The organization is a participant in the Balochistan conflict and strives to establish an independent state of Balochistan, free of Pakistani and Iranian rule. The Baloch Liberation Army became publicly known during the summer of 2000, after it claimed credit for a series of bombings of attacks on Pakistani authorities in response to mistreatment and neglect of the Baloch province in Pakistan.
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[edit] Declared as a terrorist organization
On 17 July 2006, the government of the United Kingdom listed the BLA as a proscribed group and banned their members from the UK [3] As a result of this designation any person associated with the organization is barred from entering the United Kingdom.[4] The group's actions have also been described as terrorism by the United States Department of State[5]
[edit] Claims of support from India
Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of supporting Balochistan freedom movement though Pakisan has never made this public nor any clues have been found regarding this. In 2010, Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousuf Raza Gilani showed that he given a dossier to India regarding its involvement in Balochistan but India clearly rejected it.[6]
Furthermore India is accused of supporting the BLA from its consulates in Afghanistan.[7].British intelligence strongly believes New Delhi is covertly supporting the BLA and ramps the support up when it wants to apply more pressure to Pakistan.[8]
Some officials state be the insurgency is an internal problem with no external role.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/105163.html
- ^ http://maloykrishnadhar.com/balochistan-cruces-of-history-part-ii
- ^ "Militant Islamist groups banned under terror law", Richard Ford, Timesonline, 18 July 2006
- ^ "British Home Office: Proscribed terror groups"
- ^ Chapter 2 -- Country Reports: South and Central Asia Overview Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, April 30, 2007
- ^ Pak accuses India's RAW for Balochistan's troubles report by Indo-Asian News Service Tuesday, September 5, 2006
- ^ http://www.nowpublic.com/world/fascist-bla-terrorising-whole-balochistan
- ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-india-mumbai-attacks
- ^ US bails out India from Balochistan wrangle, The Times of India, 2009-07-31
[edit] External links
- Exclusive report on Baluch separatists, 10 Jun 07, Al Jazeera
- Never Mind The Baluch, An article by Ben Hayes of Red Pepper (magazine) that criticises the UK Government for listing the BLA as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000
- http://fpc.org.uk/events/117 Foreign Policy Center's(FPC/London) report about Balochistan.
- http://www.balochpeople.org/eng/2007/jan/opinion1.htm#2 Answer to the FPC report about Balochistan.
- http://intellibriefs.blogspot.com/2007/09/baloch-nationalists-can-approach-icj.html Baluch Nationalists can approach ICJ, need not be a "State"
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