The Hindu : U.S. troops `fighting' al-Qaeda in Pak.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 26, 2002

International

International

U.S. troops `fighting' al-Qaeda in Pak.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON APRIL 25 . U.S. troops are attacking al-Qaeda hideouts inside Pakistan and American forces have been attacked several times in the last month in Afghanistan, according to a report in The Washington Post. While the Pentagon has not officially responded to the report, it is considered significant here that the American forces may have been repeatedly attacked in recent weeks. No U.S. soldier has been reported killed.

The Defence Department has been especially quiet on the kind of cooperation it is getting from Pakistan — due partially to operational secrecy. But it also has to do with a hesitancy to put the Government in Islamabad in any tighter spot than it is already.

According to The Post, American special forces have been deliberately exposing themselves to attack, with a view to drawing al-Qaeda and Taliban militants out of their hideouts in the border regions.

The belief in many quarters here, irrespective of what has been said officially, is that hundreds of Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters are still holed-up there; many of them have found refuge in Pakistan; and Osama bin Laden himself may be hiding in Pakistan with help from tribal chieftains.

Though not officially substantiated, it is believed that an agreement with Pakistan has been worked out, paving the way to send advisers to cooperate with Pakistani troops in the pursuit of the militants. "The cooperation continues to get better and better all the time," was all that a Pentagon spokeswoman would comment.

At a Senate panel hearing on Wednesday, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said Washington was working with Islamabad on cooperation in the border areas and that the Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, has been forthcoming. "...these are tough areas. And it's not just a matter of going in and occupying them by military forces. It takes intelligence work, it takes liaison work. And President Musharraf has been quite forthcoming, more so than people might have expected at the beginning of this campaign with respect to what he was willing to do and how he's willing to cooperate with us," he said.

Privately there is a perception that, due largely to domestic political compulsions in Pakistan, Washington and Islamabad may wish to keep things under wraps, deliberately providing few details. Until now, the assumption has been that the U.S. has only been providing intelligence and law enforcement support to Pakistan, while staying out of direct combat involvements.

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