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Pakistan al-Qaeda said to be fleeing to Afghanistan
Islamabad, Feb 26: A Pakistani military operation meant to capture Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives has forced some suspects to seek refuge across the border in Afghanistan, intelligence officials said.
Islamabad, Feb 26: A Pakistani military operation meant to capture Taliban and al-Qaeda fugitives has forced some suspects to seek refuge across the border in Afghanistan, intelligence officials said.
With the cross-border movement, Pakistan achieved one of the primary goals of its operation this week in its lawless border regions - prompting the fugitives to be driven into territory where US and Afghan troops operate, security officials said while speaking on condition of anonymity.
The three senior intelligence and government officials gave no indication of what prompted them to be so certain of their assessment and didn't offer any specific intelligence to back up their claims.
"The goal was to force them to leave our areas - or to capture them," one senior security official said. "We were successful." Investigators have been questioning 25 suspects, including four foreigners, captured in Tuesday's operation near Wana, about 300 kilometers west of the capital, Islamabad. There was no indication that any senior al-Qaeda leader was among the four. The remaining suspects appear to be local tribesmen.
Authorities using helicopters and artillery swept through the area after talking for days about launching the operation if tribal authorities didn't hand over the suspects. The government set February 20 as the deadline for tribal elders to hand over al-Qaeda fugitives and their supporters. The decision to announce the operation in advance suggested that officials saw little hope of surprising Osama bin Laden, his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, or other al-Qaeda leaders believed to be hiding in the rugged border area.
It also came only days after the top US commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, announced that Pakistan's new approach and a change in US counterinsurgency tactics would create a "hammer-and-anvil" effect to trap al-Qaeda fighters between U.S. and Pakistani forces. The security officials cautioned, however, that some fugitives might still be hiding in the Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan, where the inhabitants are linked by language and culture to Afghan Pashtuns, the ethnic group that was the Taliban's power base.
"Some foreigners may still be hiding there," said Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the spokesman for the Pakistani army. "We will eliminate them." US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, meanwhile, sought to downplay rumors that bin Laden will likely be caught soon.
Asked after talks with Afghan leaders and US commanders about whether the net was closing on bin Laden, Rumsfeld stopped short of earlier predictions by the US military that the chief suspect in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be detained before this year is out.
Bureau Report
The three senior intelligence and government officials gave no indication of what prompted them to be so certain of their assessment and didn't offer any specific intelligence to back up their claims.
"The goal was to force them to leave our areas - or to capture them," one senior security official said. "We were successful." Investigators have been questioning 25 suspects, including four foreigners, captured in Tuesday's operation near Wana, about 300 kilometers west of the capital, Islamabad. There was no indication that any senior al-Qaeda leader was among the four. The remaining suspects appear to be local tribesmen.
Authorities using helicopters and artillery swept through the area after talking for days about launching the operation if tribal authorities didn't hand over the suspects. The government set February 20 as the deadline for tribal elders to hand over al-Qaeda fugitives and their supporters. The decision to announce the operation in advance suggested that officials saw little hope of surprising Osama bin Laden, his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, or other al-Qaeda leaders believed to be hiding in the rugged border area.
It also came only days after the top US commander in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno, announced that Pakistan's new approach and a change in US counterinsurgency tactics would create a "hammer-and-anvil" effect to trap al-Qaeda fighters between U.S. and Pakistani forces. The security officials cautioned, however, that some fugitives might still be hiding in the Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan, where the inhabitants are linked by language and culture to Afghan Pashtuns, the ethnic group that was the Taliban's power base.
"Some foreigners may still be hiding there," said Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the spokesman for the Pakistani army. "We will eliminate them." US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, meanwhile, sought to downplay rumors that bin Laden will likely be caught soon.
Asked after talks with Afghan leaders and US commanders about whether the net was closing on bin Laden, Rumsfeld stopped short of earlier predictions by the US military that the chief suspect in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be detained before this year is out.
Bureau Report