Pakistan has asked the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for actions against arming of terrorist groups functioning from Afghanistan including banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Majeed Brigade.
Speaking at the “UNSC Arria-Formula meeting on Small Arms and Light Weapons Management in UN Sanctions Regimes” on Saturday Counsellor at the Pakistan Mission Syed Atif Raza said: “Terrorist armed groups are in possession of billions worth of illicit arms abandoned in Afghanistan, which are being used in violence against civilian and armed forces of Pakistan”.
The comments of the ambassador stand against the backdrop of a fresh report by the Geneva-based “Small Arms Survey” stressing the ongoing major issue of illegal small arm and light weapon proliferation along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Pakistan advocates the retrieval of firearms from terrorists.The paper “Documenting Arms Availability in Afghanistan” exposes the continuous arms trafficking in Afghanistan, showing that despite Taliban attempts to regulate weapon distribution, both Soviet-era and NATO-pattern weaponry are easily available in unofficial markets.
The results reveal that weaponry are routinely transferred to non-state armed groups, including al-Qaeda and the TTP, which calls questions regarding regional security.
The poll should be read in line with the Global Terrorism Index 2025 report, which not only ranks Pakistan as the second most terrorism-affected nation in 2024 with an alarming 45% increase in terrorism-related deaths but also reflects Pakistan’s consistent posture on the use of Afghanistan’s territory by the TTP.
Noting that the militant groups operating out of Afghanistan had escalated their attacks, especially near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the report added that the TTP remained the deadliest terrorist group in the nation, accounting for 52% of all terrorism-related deaths.
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, especially in the neighboring regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the nation has also been reeling under more terrorist assaults aiming at law enforcers and security personnel.
Data published by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a research tank, shows that terror attacks in Pakistan surged by 42% compared to the month before in January 2025.
Building on his points of view in this sense, Counsellor Raza underlined that small arms and light weapons have evolved into tools of choice for both state and non-state actors to destabilise any nation or region by supporting illegal armed groups, organised crime and terrorism.
“These issues are exacerbated with the growing sophistication of illegal arms and access to modernised weapons at the disposal of often transnational operating illegal armed groups.”
Drawing attention to Islamabad’s vulnerabilities, the diplomat said: “Pakistan is concerned at the acquisition and use of modern and sophisticated illicit arms by terrorist groups such as TTP — a UN-listed terrorist organisation, which operates with impunity from Afghanistan — as well as the so-BLA and Majeed Brigade”.
“We call upon our international partners to recover the great stockpile of abandoned weapons, prevent their access to armed terrorist groups and take actions to close this thriving black market of illicit arms,” he said.
