UNITED NATIONS, Jul 31 (APP): Outlawed terrorist groups — Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), including its Majeed Brigade, and Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP} — have “close coordination”, according to a United Nations Security Council report, which pointed out that “some BLA attacks showed a high degree of complexity”, citing Jaffar Express’ dramatic hijacking in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

“On 11 March, BLA hijacked the Jaffar Express train in an isolated mountainous region with improvised explosive devices and other weapons, killing 31, including 21 hostages, which demonstrated in a high-profile manner the rise in the group’s capacity and brutality,” the annual report of the 1988 Taliban sanctions committee monitoring team said.

The report also took note of the April terrorist attack in Pahalgam, in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, without giving any opinion on the incident. It noted that The Resistance Front (TRF), which initially claimed responsibility for the attack, later retracted it.

Despite intense Indian campaign, the report did not link TRF with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), but noted that a member- state had insisted that the attack could not have happened without LeT’s support. At the same time, another member-state, it added, rejected these views, saying that LeT was defunct.

“Regional relations remain fragile,” the report said, adding, “There is a risk that terrorist groups may exploit these regional tensions.”

On the other hand, the report said that TTP had approximately 6,000 fighters and continued to receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities (Taliban), while noting reports of divergent views within the authorities on their relationship with TTP, with some arguing for distancing themselves from the group to improve regional relationships.

“Some member-states reported that TTP maintained tactical-level connections with ISIL-K or Da’esh,” it said.

“TTP continued to carry out high-profile attacks in the region, some of which incurred mass casualties. It was reported that TTP had continued access to a range of weapons, enhancing the lethality of attacks— obviously a reference to the sophisticated military equipment left behind by the departing American troops as Kabul fell to the Taliban.

“One Member State reported that, in January 2025, TTP provided training to terrorists in Balochistan.”

The report also said, “The de facto authorities (Taliban) in Afghanistan continued to maintain a permissive environment for a range of terrorist groups, including Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, posing a serious threat to the security of Central Asian and other countries.”

ISIL-K or Da’esh, it added, continued to represent the most serious threat, both regionally and internationally.

“With about 2,000 fighters, ISIL-K continued to recruit both inside and outside Afghanistan, including among Central Asian States and the Russian North Caucasus, as well as disaffected fighters from other groups,” the report said.

“There were concerns that some extremist fighters could move from the Syrian Arab Republic to Afghanistan and further to stage operations against regional States, firstly in Central Asia.

“In North Afghanistan and areas close to the Pakistani borders, ISIL-K indoctrinated children in madrassas, establishing a suicide training course for minors aged approximately 14 years old.”

The report also said that ISIL-K continued to prioritize attacks on Shia communities, the de facto authorities and foreigners. Under the leadership of Sanaullah Ghafari, fighters were scattered across the northern and north-eastern provinces of Afghanistan.

ISIL-K, it added, tried to establish operations in the states neighbouring Afghanistan and globally.

“The efforts of the de facto authorities diminished ISIL-K capabilities, but it continued to operate with relative impunity, exploiting discontent with Taliban governance.

“While the leadership remained predominantly Afghan Pashtun, the rank and file were now mostly of Central Asian origin. Some of the ISIL-K supporters attempting to cross borders were female, including wives of Central Asian fighters,” the report added.