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Pak intelligence agents in Afghan to track Osama: official
For the first time since September 11 terror strikes in US, Pakistani intelligence agents have entered Afghanistan with a task to track Osama bin Laden and frustrate Al-Qaeda`s attempts to search for a new base in Pakistan, according to a senior Pakistani intelligence official.
For the first time since September 11 terror strikes in US, Pakistani intelligence agents have entered Afghanistan with a task to track Osama bin Laden and frustrate Al-Qaeda's attempts to search for a new base in Pakistan, according to a senior Pakistani intelligence official.
The official in Islamabad was quoted by the ‘Washington Post’ about the new Pakistani operation in Afghanistan. Another senior Pakistani intelligence official said, “All
our eyes and ears in Afghanistan are currently devoted to the search for Osama bin Laden and his associates. There is definite evidence that he has moved close to our borders.
The new Pakistani operation, said the Post, comes as President Pervez Musharraf's government has become increasingly alarmed at the prospect of bin Laden and his heavily armed fighters leaving Afghanistan in search of a Pakistani safe haven. American intelligence has also received information that Osama and other leading Al-Qaeda fighters were looking for new hideouts in the Pashtun tribal areas of Pakistan, said a third senior Pakistani intelligence official.
While publicly Musharraf and his top advisers have sought to play down fears of bin Laden or Taliban incursions into Pakistan, said the paper, privately, senior Pakistani officials are not so confident, suggesting there is a serious threat that remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban could find refuge here (in Pakistan).
Bureau Report
The new Pakistani operation, said the Post, comes as President Pervez Musharraf's government has become increasingly alarmed at the prospect of bin Laden and his heavily armed fighters leaving Afghanistan in search of a Pakistani safe haven. American intelligence has also received information that Osama and other leading Al-Qaeda fighters were looking for new hideouts in the Pashtun tribal areas of Pakistan, said a third senior Pakistani intelligence official.
While publicly Musharraf and his top advisers have sought to play down fears of bin Laden or Taliban incursions into Pakistan, said the paper, privately, senior Pakistani officials are not so confident, suggesting there is a serious threat that remnants of Al-Qaeda and the Taliban could find refuge here (in Pakistan).
Bureau Report