'Militants from Pakistan most likely authors of future US attack'
Any future terror attack against US interests would most likely be carried out by militants based in Pakistans restive tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen said on Tuesday.
The top military official told a press conference here that tribal groups with ties to Al Qaeda in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) represent the worst security threat to the US. I believe fundamentally that if the US is going to get hit, it is going to come out of the planning of the leadership in FATA, he told reporters. That is a threat to us that must be dealt with, Mullen said.
Pakistans government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, launched peace talks with the militants after coming to power in March.
The new government, Mullen said, faces significant challenges as it gets underway, and at the same time is looking to the best way to deal with this challenge.
Posted by: Fred 2008-06-11 |