Washington: The United States on Monday toughened its terrorist designation of separatist militants in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province who were behind a major train attack in March.
The State Department listed the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) as a foreign terrorist organization, which makes it a crime in the United States to provide support to the group.
Washington had already listed the BLA under the less severe label of specially designated global terrorists, which targets financial resources.
The new step comes as President Donald Trump increases contact with Pakistan, which was kept at arm's length by his predecessor Joe Biden, whose administration resented Islamabad's role in the two-decade war in Afghanistan.
The designation of the separatists "demonstrates the Trump administration's commitment to countering terrorism," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
Pakistani forces have for almost two decades fought an ethnic Baloch separatist insurgency that has killed hundreds of people in the minerals-rich province.
In March, the BLA claimed responsibility for an attack on a train that was carrying 450 passengers. Dozens died in the two-day siege.
