ISLAMABAD, Aug 3: Interior Minister Rehman Malik shared with the Senate on Friday `documentary evidence’ which he claimed confirmed that Afghanistan was behind attempts to foment unrest in Balochistan as part of a larger international plan for secession of the province from the country on the independence day.

The Senators were shown an alleged approval letter jointly issued by key Afghan ministries for providing 500 Kalashnikov and sniper rifles to the so-called freedom fighters in Balochistan and also written orders of Afghan President Hamid Karzai for issuing an Afghan passport to Brahamdagh Bugti, a grandson of the assassinated Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, and chief of Balochistan Liberation Army, which he used to travel to Switzerland and India, along with members of his family.

Winding up the discussion on law and order on Balochistan, Mr Malik also claimed that at least 46 training camps were operating in Pakistan where the `misled youth’ were trained and sent to Afghanistan for receiving advanced training and for launching terrorist activities in Balochistan. He stressed the need for eliminating such camps and said the issue must be handled through a parliamentary decision, instead of going for a normal operation.

The interior minister said that about 14 militant organisations, including the Balochistan Liberation Army, were receiving funds and weapons from abroad to pave the way for separation of Balochsitan. He said that besides receiving funds from abroad, these organisations got five per cent of the $6 billion drug trade carried out along the Pak-Afghan border.