* Maj Gen Salim Nawaz says proof of Indian involvement has been provided
* Taliban leaders not in Quetta
QUETTA: India and Afghanistan are supporting an insurgency in Balochistan, trying to bolster the leadership of separatists fighting the government, chief of the Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary force in Balochistan said on Saturday.
A lot of evidence of Indian involvement through Afghanistan is there, supporting the separatist movement, Major General Salim Nawaz, inspector general of the FC in Balochistan, said.
General Nawaz said the separatists were not very strong as they did not have enough foot soldiers or a proper command-and-control structure.
The foreign element, especially the element there in Afghanistan, is trying hard to create more leadership, he said.
Proof: The FC chief said proof of Indian involvement had been provided. The proof has been given at various levels ... Photographs have been provided, he said, but did not elaborate.
Quetta: General Nawaz also denied US accusations that Taliban leadership was based in and around Quetta, saying Washington was looking for an excuse for the difficulty it was facing with an intensifying Taliban insurgency.
These allegations have been levelled in the past, he said.
They had been dying a death but lately they have started again. In my view, whatever is happening in Afghanistan, if they are not succeeding, there has to be some escape route.
The United States had handed over no information to back up its assertion regarding the Quetta shura, he said. If they have any evidence which they have not given us a bit of until this moment they should share it with us. Pakistani forces are quite capable of sorting them out, he said.
General Nawaz said it was impossible for Taliban leaders such as Mullah Omar to go unnoticed.
If he has to move, or if their leadership has to move, they have to move with some paraphernalia, they need to make some arrangements, he said. reuters