US Report Warns Of Increased Al-Qaeda Safe Havens In Pakistan
Friday May 23rd, 2008 / 23h01
WASHINGTON (AFP)--A U.S. military report said Friday that the growth of Al-Qaeda safe havens in Pakistan's tribal areas is "troubling," and warned it may take Pakistan several years to turn around the situation. The Defense Department report to Congress credits Pakistan with increasing its troop levels in the border areas by 30,000 last year, and making "significant and costly" efforts to eliminate safe havens. But the report said, "It is troubling that despite these efforts, safe havens in the FATA have grown in recent years." The report made no reference to an apparent change in strategy by the new Pakistani government favoring negotiations with militants in the federally administered tribal areas. Under a peace agreement reached this week with pro-Taliban militants in the Swat Valley, the government agreed to gradually pull out its troops in return for a halt in attacks. The Pentagon report noted that 700 Pakistanis have been killed in suicide attacks since July 2007. "Al-Qaeda and other violent extremists continue to hide out in the FATA, where they are able to recruit, train, and target US and western interests, including plots against Europe and the US homeland," the report said. The islamic religious schools known as madrassas "continue to promote jihad and martyrdom, and provide potential operatives for acts of violence in Afghanistan," it said. "Despite successful attacks against some terrorist training facilities in the tribal areas, it is believed other camps remain active and safe havens have grown in recent years," it said. The report described a six-year U.S. program to help strengthen the Pakistani military and security forces' ability to secure the border with Pakistan, but cautioned that it will take time to implement. "It may be several years before Pakistan's comprehensive strategy to render the remote tribal areas permanently inhospitable to terrorists, insurgents and other violent extremists can be measured for success," the report said. The United States is helping Pakistan build new training facilities for the Frontier Corps, a poorly equipped tribal force responsible for guarding the border, and is also supporting special forces elements of the Pakistani army, the report said. Frontier Corps instructors are supposed to be trained this fiscal year, to be followed next year by the training and equipping of a 700-member "wing" of the border force, according to the report. The Pentagon has funded the program with $150 million this year, and is seeking another $200 million for it next year. -Monitor Desk, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5500; pickup@dowjones.com
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