Kesher Talk

Whither Afghanistan, so let's move to Pakistan: Arnaud de Borchgrave has a weighty piece, probing if Pakistan is taking Afghanistan's place as the new fulcrum of transnational terrorism.

Intelligence sources in Washington, London, Paris and Rome agree that al Qaida's underground network in Pakistan is functioning with the complicity of the clergy and intelligence services. President Pervez Musharraf's much-publicized crackdown on Islamist extremists is a dismal failure, according to Western intelligence appraisals. Pakistani national police sources in Islamabad estimate that some 10,000 Afghan Taliban cadres and followers and about 5,000 al Qaida fighters are now hiding in Pakistan "with the full support of intelligence authorities, as well as religious and tribal groups," according to one source.

posted by Howard @ 6/18/2002 02:47:49 PM