| Pakistan stated that it would not grant political asylum to Mullah Omar or Osama bin Laden. Sources in the ISI say that Pakistan has no choice now but to "somehow come to assistance of the crumbling Taliban regime in the south so as preserve Pakistan's territorial integrity." Pakistan has arrested 83 activists of the Pakistan-based Kashmiri group Harkatul Mujahideen after they crossed into the country's tribal areas from Afghanistan. An Indian intelligence report says that about 6,000 Pakistan Army personnel fought with the Taliban even after the US began bombing Afghanistan, including Mazar-e-Sharif. Pakistan denies airlifting them out. |