ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Lieutenant General (Retired) Amir Riaz has made significant claims regarding alleged foreign involvement in insurgency-related activities from Kabul to Balochistan.
Speaking at a book launch event in Islamabad, the former army officer said that historical events and past incidents point towards a “long-running covert network.”
Lt. Gen (R) Amir Riaz referred to late Baloch leader Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, whom he described as a former commander linked to the insurgency movement during the 1970s.
He claimed that Mir Hazar Khan had once shown him a photograph from Kabul allegedly featuring the head of Afghanistan’s former intelligence agency KHAD, the station chief of India’s RAW, and the Soviet Union’s KGB officials sitting together.
He told me the whole story of this picture, which makes many things clear, Lt. Gen (R) said.
He claimed the picture and the explanation provided by Mir Hazar Khan suggested coordinated foreign involvement in regional unrest during that period.
The retired general further alleged that in 2006-07, an Indian embassy official identified as Deepak Kaul, who was serving in Pakistan as a commercial attaché, was allegedly caught while meeting Baloch militant representatives and transferring money to them.
“When he was returning to Delhi by road with the permission of the Pakistani government, he was caught red-handed while meeting representatives of Baloch militants on the way and giving them $400,000,” the retired army general said.
According to Amir Riaz, the official was later sent back due to diplomatic immunity.
He stated that such incidents indicate that foreign involvement in Balochistan-related matters is “not a new story but part of an old chain.”
