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Journalism of Courage
As Taliban push deeper into Pakistans settled areas,foreign operatives of al-Qaeda,who had focused on plotting attacks against the West,are seizing on the turmoil to sow chaos in Pakistan and to strengthen the hand of the militant Islamist groups there,according to US and Pakistani intelligence officials.
One indication came on April 19,when a truck parked inside a Qaeda compound in South Waziristan erupted in a fireball when it was struck by a CIA missile. US intelligence officials say that the truck had been loaded with high explosives,apparently to be used as a bomb.
Al-Qaedas leaders have nurtured ties to Pakistani militant groups like the Taliban.
Intelligence officials say Taliban advances in Swat and Buner have helped al-Qaedas recruiting. The officials say the groups recruiting campaign is aimed at young fighters across West Asia,North Africa and Central Asia,less inclined to plan and carry out far-reaching global attacks and who have focused their energies on more immediate targets.
They smell blood,and they are intoxicated by the idea of a jihadist takeover in Pakistan, said Bruce O Riedel,former analyst for the CIA who led the Obama administrations policy review of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
It remains unlikely that Islamic militants could seize power in Pakistan. But a senior US intelligence official expressed concern that recent successes by the Taliban in extending territorial gains could foreshadow the creation of mini-Afghanistans around Pakistan that would allow militants more freedom to plot attacks.
According to a Pakistani intelligence assessment,al-Qaeda has adapted to the deaths of its leaders by shifting to conduct decentralised operations under small but well-organised regional groups within Pakistan and Afghanistan. At the same time,the group has intensified its recruiting,to replace its airstrike casualties.
