islamabad: The Australian government on Friday imposed counterterrorism financing sanctions on the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its senior leaders \u201cfor their engagement in and support of terrorist attacks\u201d. Announcing the sanctions, Australia\u2019s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said that BLA has conducted \u201cviolent terror attacks\u201d across Pakistan, targeting civilians, critical infrastructure, and foreign nationals, as well as the Pakistani state. The Australian government\u2019s commitment to countering terrorism and violent extremism is unwavering, she added. According to Wong, sanctions help cut off the financial support of terrorists, making it harder for them to fund operations, recruit and spread their \u201charmful ideology\u201d. \u201cWe remain committed to working with our international partners to confront and dismantle the networks that fuel threats to our security,\u201d she said. The sanctions make it a criminal offence to use or deal with the assets of a listed person or entity, or to make assets available to them. Wong said that penalties for a breach of an Australian sanctions law include heavy fines and up to 10 years\u2019 imprisonment. Australia\u2019s counterterrorism sanctions are targeted, proportionate and designed to uphold international peace and security, she added. Pakistan has repeatedly urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to sanction the militant group, involved in deadly attacks resulting in the martyrdom of civilians and security personnel. In January this year, the militant group launched deadly \u201ccoordinated attacks across 12 towns\u201d in Balochistan, which resulted in the martyrdom of at least 22 security personnel and 36 civilians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
islamabad: The Australian government on Friday imposed counterterrorism financing sanctions on the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its senior leaders \u201cfor their engagement in and support of terrorist attacks\u201d. Announcing the sanctions, Australia\u2019s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said that BLA has conducted \u201cviolent terror attacks\u201d across Pakistan, targeting civilians, critical infrastructure, and foreign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-545352","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n