Pakistan has rejected reports that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin-Laden is hiding inside the country's geographical boundaries.
Pakistan intelligence officials say Islamabad is apprehensive about the expanding US offensive, as it feels that it could create further problems in already troubled Balochistan.
US will supply sophisticated laser-guided-bomb kits, 12 American-made surveillance drones and 18 late-model F-16 fighters to boost Pakistani forces capability to strike in remote tribal areas, a development which could spark unease in New Delhi.
India, China and Russia on Thursday held a trilateral meeting on Afghanistan's security situation against the backdrop of the US' plans to withdraw its troops from the war-ravaged country, raising fears of re-emergence of Taliban and al-Qaeda linked elements.
Describing Pakistan as "the most threatening place," an influential US lawmaker has said that the Taliban and the Al Qaeda-infested Af-Pak region poses greater danger to the world than Yemen, another hotbed of terrorists.
United States President Barack Obama on Sunday said that he would approve an Abbottabad-like operation which killed Osama bin Laden if another militant leader was found in Pakistan.
As US President Barack Obama took ownership of a new comprehensive strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan to counter the Al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban, senior Administration officials acknowledged that India would be a key stakeholder in these efforts too, although New Delhi will not be invited to put boots on the ground in this renewed fight against terrorism because of its regional problems with Pakistan.
In a bargaining tactic, Pakistan has urged the United States to push India for a 'diplomatic rapprochement' with it, in lieu of its crackdown on terror groups, particularly in tribal areas where top Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders are hiding. This tactic of Pakistan -- for which, observers say, its leaders have been known for -- is clearly being articulated by President Asif Ali Zardari in his three-page letter written to his US counterpart Barack Obama.
Even as the Pakistani political and military leadership has reacted strongly to the proposed US drone strikes inside the country, US President Barack Obama has warned that America would launch missile attacks inside Pakistan if it gets actionable intelligence about the presence of top Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in a particular area.
The Bush administration apparently has no problem with the new Pakistani government's peace deal with militant groups in that country's North West Frontier Province, including Waziristan that have been sympathetic and allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It has even given the tentative agreement its cautious blessings.
Central Intelligence Agency chief Leon Panetta has said that the drone attacks against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban targets inside Pakistan would continue.
As top Obama Administration official went to the Capitol Hill to explain to them the new Af-Pak policy, lawmakers questioned Pakistan's role and wanted assurance from the US government that Islamabad would be honest and sincere this time.
In understanding Obama's strategy, we must begin with an obvious but unstated point: The extra forces that will be deployed to Afghanistan are not expected to defeat the Taliban. Instead, their mission is to reverse the momentum of previous years and to create the circumstances under which an Afghan force can take over the mission.
More than 70 United States' military advisers, mostly special forces personnel, are secretly working in Pakistan to help its armed forces battle the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in the country's lawless tribal areas.
US President Barack Obama steered clear of Indo-Pak issues while unveiling his new momentous Af-Pak policy, but he consulted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while formulating his strategy.
The United States has said that it is pleased with the success of Pakistan army against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Southern Waziristan and reiterated that it would continue to support such efforts to combat terrorism.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi stated this after a meeting with visiting NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who sought deepening cooperation and developing political dialogue between Pakistan and the European military alliance to achieve common strategic objectives. Any 'activation on the eastern border' would affect Pakistan's involvement in the war on terror, Qureshi told a joint press conference after their talks.
Indian lawmakers have warned US that withdrawing troops from war-ravaged Afghanistan from July next year without defeating Taliban and Al Qaeda would be devastating for the region as well as for America. Once US forces withdraws from Afghanistan, the entire region including parts of Pakistan would emerge as a more strong safe haven for the terrorists and it would considered as a victory for their ideology.
A top US diplomat on Thursday said Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was based in Pakistan's tribal belt and senior Taliban leaders operating from Quetta were playing a key role in fomenting unrest in Afghanistan, prompting Islamabad to dismiss the charges as "mere speculation".
The Pakistan government has blocked a resolution moved in the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions against former Inter-Services-Intelligence chief retired Lieutenant General Hamid Gul over his alleged links with al-Qaeda and Taliban, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Wednesday.
United States President Barack Obama on Thursday said the US wants Pakistan to become a "more effective" partner in the war against terrorism to be able to dismantle the terror network active on the AfPak border.
"Lashkar-e-Tayiba tactics is quite obvious. It is trying to increase tensions between India and Pakistan at a time when they and their associates are particularly under pressure in western Pakistan," Barrett said in at press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is still active and trying its best to increase the tension between India and Pakistan, a top United Nations official mandated to monitor the Security Council sanctions against Al-Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorist groups said on Wednesday.
A beefed-up campaign of American drone strikes over the last three months has battered Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in the tribal area of North Waziristan, says a report in the New York Times.
A senior Pentagon official has told the United States Congress that in spite of the threat posed by the Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups, the Pakistani military still views India as its greatest security threat.
On a landmark visit to Russia to 'reset' ties between the two Cold War foes, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday sought Moscow's cooperation in defeating terrorism, as he declared that neither America nor Russia has an interest in an Afghanistan or Pakistan governed by the Taliban. He expressed happiness over Russia agreeing to allow the US to send supplies to the coalition forces in Afghanistan through its territory.
Pakistan has said the world community should nudge India to resolve all "core" bilateral issues, including Kashmir and sharing of river waters, arguing that "tension" on its eastern border is a distraction to its fight against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban in its restive tribal belt.
Wednesday's arrest of four terror suspects including that of SIMI mastermind Haider Ali signals the end of the road for organised terror modules in India, claims the Intelligence Bureau. But what's worrying is thatthe Al Qaeda and Taliban are taking keen interest in the terror operations in India. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The American soldiers who were killed in a blast in Pakistan's Lower Dir district on Wednesday were members of the United States Army's Special Forces, which has been training the (paramilitary) Frontier Corps to fight against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban.The slain troopers were part of a 100-member strong military training unit, which was involved in training a paramilitary commando unit of over 1000 men, to carry out operations against Al Qaeda and Taliban militants.
At present, India's focus has been on making the US co-operate against the activities of the anti-India terrorist groups and their infrastructure in Pakistani territory. This should continue, but this should not be the only subject of co-operation between the two countries. It is necessary to expand it to cover likely threats to Pakistan's nuclear establishments.
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, went ballistic at a forum in Washington DC, slamming Congressional critics, the media and leading analysts who have predicted that Pakistan is on the verge of becoming a failed state and bound to implode, and those who have accused the ISI of colluding with al Qaeda and the Taliban while Islamabad rakes in the massive largesse of American economic and security assistance.
Seeking to explain the absence of the terror activities directed against India, in the United State's new Af-Pak strategy, India has said the Barack Obama administration was 'looking at' terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Tayiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad 'off-camera'.Welcoming the Af-Pak policy unveiled on Tuesday, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said the pressure maintained by the US on the Taliban and the Al Qaeda there is in the interest of India.
Voicing deep concern over "great synergy" among terror groups, top US military commander Mike Mullen has said that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which "fostered" Mumbai attacks, is associated with the Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and asserted India has a role to play in bringing stability to the region.
Highlighting the need to refine US strategy in Afghanistan where situation has "deteriorated", President Barack Obama has said the war on terrorism in that country cannot be won without an effective government there and support from Pakistan in fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban.
As part of efforts to convince Pakistan to abandon its policy of using extremist elements as a strategic tool, the US has warned it that there is "no good terrorist" whom it can count on and asked it to take more steps against Taliban and Al Qaeda militants.
The United Nations Security Council's sanctions committee has not received any petition from Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a front for Lashkar-e-Tayiba, to reconsider the decision declaring it as a terrorist group, a top official said on Thursday. Reports from Pakistan had said that the JUD is appealing the decision but Coordinator of Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Committee Richard Barrett said no such petition has been received.
The United States may seek to gain leverage from the WikiLeaks disclosures about the Inter Services Intelligence's links with the Taliban and the Al Qaeda to make Islamabad act tougher on militant groups on its soil. "This is now in the open," a senior Barack Obama administration official said, referring to the 92,000 documents of the US defence department's war in Afghanistan made public by the online whistleblower WikiLeaks.
With 80 percent of US casualties in Afghanistan caused by roadside bombs planted by Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, the Pentagon is creating a department-wide task force to find ways to counter the menace.
After the recent suicide attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas, which left at least 100 people dead, the Pakistan army, with US help, is reportedly set for a major military offensive in the area.
The drone fired three missiles at Karikot village in South Waziristan, official sources were quoted as saying by TV channels.
