KABUL, 7 May 2006 — Pakistan is not doing enough to help root out Taleban and Al-Qaeda leaders who have found safe haven in its lawless tribal lands along the Afghan border, a senior US security official said yesterday.
Most Al-Qaeda and Taleban leaders are in Pakistan, and while the United States did not know where Osama Bin Laden was hiding, he was probably on the Pakistan side of the border, said Henry Crumpton, State Department coordinator for counterterrorism.
Pakistan, a vital US security ally, has arrested hundreds of Al-Qaeda members and lost hundreds of its troops battling militants. But Afghan officials have complained insurgents were able to gather support and launch raids from the safety of Pakistani territory.
Violence has intensified in parts of Afghanistan in recent months to its worst level since US and Afghan opposition forces ousted the Taleban in 2001.
“Has Pakistan done enough? I think the answer is ‘no’,” Crumpton told a news briefing in the Afghan capital, Kabul. “Not only Al-Qaeda, but Taleban leadership are primarily in Pakistan, and the Pakistanis know that,” Crumpton added.
