Pakistan has requested international repression of the illegal flow of weapons to terrorist organizations, warning that groups such as Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Liberation Army of Baloch (Bla) are using advanced weapons, abandoned in Afghanistan, to carry out outbreaks.
Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council formula on the management of small weapons and light weapons in UN sanctions regimes, Syed Atif Raza, counselor of Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN, said that these terrorist entities were exploiting not governed spaces in Afghanistan to launch fatal operations aimed at civilians and security forces in Pakistan.
“The terrorist armed groups are in possession of billions of illicit weapons abandoned in Afghanistan,” rage told the informal consultation organized by Sierra Leone. “We call on our international partners who recover the vast reserve of abandoned weapons, avoid access to armed terrorist groups and take measures to close this prosperous black market of illicit weapons.”
The diplomat emphasized that groups such as the TTP, Bla and his suicide wing, the Majeed Brigade, had not only obtained access to sophisticated weapons, but also received external support and financing. Although he did not appoint any country directly, Race referred to the “main adversary” of Pakistan, a clear reference to India.
“These terrorist entities also receive external support and financing from our main adversary,” he said.
He added that the misuse and illicit trade of small weapons and light weapons contributed to regional instability, hindered development and undermined peace consolidation efforts.
Race also warned that non -state actors lack the industrial capacity to manufacture advanced weapons, raising serious questions about the role of certain state actors in the authorization of such groups.
“We know that non -state actors do not have many of the capacities to manufacture advanced illicit weapons, which raises guilt issues of certain state actors in these dire activities,” he said.
He asked the UN to improve the mechanisms for the recovery of arms, improve monitoring under sanctions regimes and increase the responsibility of the countries involved in trafficking or facilitate such weapons.
The Arria-Formula meeting, named for former Venezuelan ambassador Diego Arria, gives members of the Security Council an informal platform to listen to non-state actors or other interested parties about a pressing global problem.
