Pakistan called for an international repression of the illegal weapons flow to terrorist organizations, warning that groups such as Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (Bla) use advanced weapons, abandoned in Afghanistan, to carry out cross-border attacks.
Speaking during a meeting of the UN Security Council’s arria formulas on the management of mild weapons and mild weapons in the United Nations sanctions regimes, Syed Atif Raza, Advisor to the Permanent Mission from Pakistan to the UN, said these terrorist entities operated both civilians and the security forces in Afghanistan.
“Terrorist armed groups are in possession of billions of illicit weapons abandoned in Afghanistan,” Raza told the informal consultation organized by Sierra Leone. “We call on our international partners to recover the vast stocks of abandoned weapons, to prevent their access to armed terrorist groups and to take measures to close this flourishing black market of illicit weapons.”
The diplomat stressed that groups such as TTP, BLA and its suicide wing, the major brigade, had not only accessed sophisticated weapons, but also received external support and funding. While not appointing any country directly, Raza has referred to “the main opponent” of Pakistan – a clear reference to India.
“These terrorist entities also receive external support and funding from our main opponent,” he said.
He added that the abusive trade and illicit trade in light weapons and light weapons contributed to regional instability, hampered development and bound peacebuilding efforts.
Raza has also warned that non -state actors do not have the industrial ability to make advanced weapons, raising serious questions about the role of certain stakeholders in the state in the activation of these groups.
“We know that non-state actors do not have much capacity to make illicit advanced weapons, thus raising questions of guilt of certain state actors in these harmful activities,” he said.
He called on the UN to improve weapons recovery mechanisms, improve surveillance under sanctions regimes and increase responsibility for countries involved in traffic or facilitate these weapons.
The arria-formula meeting, named after the former Venezuelan ambassador Diego Aria, provides members of the Security Council an informal platform to hear non-state actors or other stakeholders on the urgent global problem.
