The Pakistan government is supporting Islamist groups close to the Taliban in its attempt to suppress tribal insurgency in Balochistan, a leading international think tank has alleged.

In its report Pakistan: The Forgotten Conflict in Balochistan, the International Crisis Group said that the Musharraf regime relies on divide-and-rule policies. It supports Pashtun Islamist parties like the JUI-F, a key patron of the Afghan Taliban, in a bid to counter secular Baloch and moderate Pashtun forces.

Balochs have been waging a movement for nearly three years to seek greater autonomy and a greater share of the region's rich resources.

Asserting that insurgency in the province will subside only when free and transparent elections establish a legitimate government to replace the current military dictatorship, the ICG asked the government to end "repression, killings, imprisonments, disappearances and torture" against the Balochs.

"The repressive measures only feed the insurgency," said Robert Templer, Director of ICG's Asia Programme.

 The ICG said that the Taliban and its Pakistani allies were using Balochistan as a base of operation and for sanctuary. The Islamist outfit was also recruiting personnel from JUI's extensive madrasa network.

"At the same time, US and other Western support for Musharraf is alienating Baloch groups, which otherwise could be natural partners in countering extremism in Pakistan," the think-tank added. The government needs to restore a democratic election process for national and provincial governments and allow representative and participatory institutions, the ICG said.

"It should cease all military operations; release all political prisoners, including those in the unlawful custody of intelligence agencies. It should accept the Supreme Court's directive to end the disappearances of political opponents," the report said.

The government should immediately produce those charged with criminal offences before competent civilian courts, drop terrorism charges against Balochistan National Party leader Akthar Mengal and release him on bail, it added.

"The staunchly anti-Taliban and secular Baloch believe the international community has yet to understand the threat the military's Islamist allies pose, domestically and externally," said Samina Ahmed, the group's South Asia Project Director.

"The restoration of participatory democratic institutions willing to accommodate the legitimate political demands of the Baloch would assuage dissent and restore trust in constitutionalism and rule of law," he said..