|
'More foreign fighters moving into Pakistan's Tribal Areas'
United States intelligence officials say there has been an increase in foreign fighters travelling to Pakistan to join Al Qaeda-linked militants in the country's Tribal Areas, the New York Times reported on Thursday.US intelligence and military sources told the newspaper that dozens or more Uzbeks, North Africans and Arabs from Gulf states had moved into Pakistan in recent months, strengthening the Al Qaeda forces which were backing the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. A US military spokesman in Baghdad told the Times that there had been a corresponding drop in the number of foreign fighters entering Iraq, now less than 40 a month compared to up to 110 a month one year ago. "The flow may reflect a change that is making Pakistan, not Iraq, the preferred destination for some extremists from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia who are seeking to take up arms against the West," the Times wrote, citing the officials. Worsening situation: NATO Commander in Afghanistan Gen David McKiernan said the situation in Pakistan's north-western border areas, where Al Qaeda and other Islamic insurgents are based, had worsened. "The porous border has allowed insurgent militant groups a greater freedom of movement across that border, as well as a greater freedom to re-supply, to allow leadership to sustain stronger sanctuaries, and to provide fighters across that border," McKiernan told the Times. A US defence official told the Times that the flow of foreign fighters into Pakistan had increased "from a trickle to a steady stream", especially after Pakistan's government cut back Tribal Area operations in March and launched talks with the local leaders in hopes of halting militant activities. While the numbers of foreign fighters in Afghanistan is still relatively small, the increase adds to US worries about the revival of Al Qaeda and the rise in Taliban attacks on US and NATO coalition forces in Afghanistan. Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that a key factor behind the worsening security in his country was "the de facto truce" in Pakistan's Tribal Areas between the government and autonomous tribal groups. The resurgence of militants and Al Qaeda in the Pakistani Tribal regions, and Islamabad's truce with area leaders, were posing a deep dilemma for US policy makers and the US military, US experts say. Posted by: Fred 2008-07-11 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=243946 |