New Delhi: Giving more credence to allegations of human rights violation in Baluchistan, some Pakistani expatriates in the US have now leveled the same charges against the Pakistani military.

They even claim the Pakistani Army has been using chemical weapons against the tribals in Baluchistan.

Dozens of expatriate Pakistanis even protested outside the Pakistani embassy in Washington DC to highlight the issue to the international community.

They accused the Pakistan government of gross human rights violations in the Baluchistan province. The protest comes a day after 21 people were killed in a military operation.

Says Humaira Rahman, director of the World Sindhi Institute: "We are protesting against the fifth military operation of the military government in Pakistan against Baluchistan. A lot of innocent people, including women and children, have been killed.

Balochistan has Pakistan's main gas reserves. Yet local people feel marginalised as much of the gas is fed to other provinces.

There is opposition to the Gwadar naval base being built by the Chinese and the new military cantonments coming up.

As local grievances appear to be building up, a low-level insurgency has been gathering steam since it broke out last year.

Sindhis of Sindh, in southeastern Pakistan.