ISLAMABAD: A special committee of the National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that some foreign countries were providing funds and training to militants to cause unrest in Balochistan.

The assembly's special committee on the law and order situation in Karachi and Balochistan noted with concern that the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), which received active support from neighbouring countries, had intensified its campaign of sectarian attacks in Balochistan.

The in camera meeting presided over by Syed Khurshid Shah of the PPP and Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan of the PML-N, however, expressed satisfaction over the law and order situation in Karachi.

Sources told Dawn that Interior Minister Rehman Malik briefed the meeting and said that India and Afghanistan were supporting the LJ, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. The committee asked the minister to provide documentary evidence on the issue.

Mr Malik said the Balochistan chief secretary had been directed to take action against the LJ activists otherwise the federal government would act on its own.

He said the government was focusing on a political solution to the Balochistan problem.

The minister said he had contacted Hyarbyar Marri of the BLA and managed to dissuade the Baloch leader from issuing a “declaration of independence” on Aug 14.

The members of the committee resolved to collect crime data and review the performance of the law-enforcement agencies in Karachi.

However, the meeting could not reach a consensus on monitoring the implementation of the Supreme Court's decisions on Karachi.

In its previous meeting, the committee had decided to visit Quetta and Karachi during the last leg of its work during which it was to record statements of all stakeholders.

The 17-member committee, which was constituted by the NA speaker on Aug 28, is supposed to submit its report to the parliament within two months of its formation.