A group of people demonstrated before the Pakistan Embassy here to protest the army's offensive against agitating tribal rebels in the country's southwest province of Balochistan.

"We are enjoying freedom and democracy in America which we don't have in our own country and we could be jailed or killed for this if we did it there," Wahid Baloch, president of the Baloch Society of North America, told IANS.

The rally was organised by several groups, including the Baloch Society of North America (BSO-NA), Baloch International Human Rights, Pashtun Institute for Peace and Democracy, World Sindhi Congress and Sindhi Association of North America.

Organisers said they were opposing attacks by the Pakistan security forces since December last year in Kohlu and Dera Bugti districts of Balochistan using helicopter gun ships and fighter jets.

Munawar Laghari of the World Sindhi Institute said Sindhis were supporting the protests because "the Balochis are our neighbours".

Wahid Baloch said they were also protesting the building of the Kalabagh dam on the Indus river, which the Balochis are opposing fearing inundation.

"We are against the military operations in Balochistan and the building of the dam," he said. "We hope our voices will be heard around the world."

He also rejected the idea that other countries were trying to incite violence in Balochistan. Pakistan has accused India and Afghanistan of fuelling the unrest in Balochistan.

Over the last few weeks, Pakistan's problems in Balochistan have attracted some attention among US analysts as a potential tinder box in the South Asian subcontinent.

Mineral rich Balochistan has seen escalation of violence in the past year by separatists and tribals, who have been fighting for provincial autonomy since decades.

They accuse the government of exploiting the resources of the province and not sharing the wealth with the locals and are demanding a bigger share of royalties from gas explorations in their area.

The situation has worsened since December last year when the army launched a crackdown after a rocket attack while President Pervez Musharraf was visiting Kohlu town.

Baloch nationalists say hundreds of people have been killed since then, though the government denies the claim. A team of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that visited the area last month accused the government of "gross human rights violations" and called for a peaceful dialogue to settle the issue. (IANS)