If Afghan Taliban fighters and their top leaders are roaming around this remote part of Pakistan as the U.S. alleges, the police chief here says he hasn't seen them.
"Point them out to me," Abid Hussain Notkani says. "I will arrest them."
Interviews with residents and officials in and around Quetta, a dusty frontier city of 1.2 million, reveal widespread skepticism that Pakistan's vast Baluchistan province harbors Afghan Taliban commander Mullah Omar, his aides or their foot soldiers.
It's a disconnect that does not bode well for Washington-Islamabad relations -- and America's already tattered reputation -- as Baluchistan grows in strategic importance for the United States.
The U.S. is pouring thousands of troops across the border in southern Afghanistan, a surge that could make Baluchistan an alluring refuge and recruiting ground for the Taliban. Baluchistan also is home to one of the two main border crossings used to ferry supplies to U.S. and NATO forces -- a route that has come under attack.
The region also could figure prominently in another plan gaining support in the U.S. -- reaching out to Omar and his aides in the so-called "Quetta Shura" -- or governing council -- to negotiate peace.
Washington is so convinced that Afghan Taliban traverse this province that it has debated firing missiles in the area, a move that would certainly infuriate residents. The U.S. hasn't helped its case, offering virtually no public proof to back its allegations that Omar and his aides operate here.
Pakistan denies that Baluchistan is a Taliban haven, perhaps because it wants to avoid further unrest in a province already gripped by separatist sentiments. It also may be trying to maintain cordial relations with the Taliban, in case the U.S. abandons Afghanistan and the militants return to power there.
Baluchistan is a rugged region with a lengthy and porous border with Afghanistan and Iran. Geographically, it is Pakistan's largest province, covering 44 percent of the country. It is also the most sparsely populated, with about 6.5 million people. A driver can go for hours without seeing anyone else.
When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001, many Taliban fled to Baluchistan, finding cover among their fellow ethnic Pashtuns, a group that lives on both sides of the border. Communities of Afghan refugees have also lived in Baluchistan for many years.
"We wouldn't recognize them," said Ahmadullah Noorzai, 38, a shawl merchant in Quetta. "How could we? I have a beard. Am I Taliban?"
A long-running insurgency by Baluchis -- ethnically distinct from Pash-tuns -- feeds off resentment against the central government, which they say exploits the resource-rich region but leaves them in poverty.
That insurgency is not believed to be linked to the Taliban, but it has made Pakistan especially sensitive about keeping control of the province.
A U.S. counterterrorism official said that Afghan Taliban leaders use Quetta as a base to plan attacks in Afghanistan. He requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss intelligence publicly, and declined to provide evidence to back his assertions.
Candace Putnam, the head of the U.S. consulate in the northwest Pakistani city of Peshawar, told local journalists in December last year that al-Qaida leaders also use Quetta as a base.
But if the Taliban are in Baluchistan, they keep a low profile.
Pakistani officials say that there are no signs of convoys ferrying fighters across the border, no training camps, not even much Taliban propaganda. Unlike Pakistan's northwest, where the army is actively battling militants, any Taliban groups in Baluchistan avoid the media.
Quetta, the provincial capital, lies about 60 miles from the border. It has a heavy military and intelligence presence, and a reporter's every move is tracked. In communities beyond Quetta, residents said they were not aware of Taliban fighters in their midst, though some reported seeing them four or five years ago.
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