The recent arrests of several Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Britain have provided Western intelligence agencies with considerable information about the organisation’s structure and operations.
LAHORE: The recent arrests of several Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Britain have provided Western intelligence agencies with considerable information about the organisation’s structure and operations, negating Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf’s claims that the Qaeda network in Pakistan has been smashed.
Pakistan continues to breed new terrorists, and there has been an infusion of young blood into the Al Qaeda.
A senior Pakistani intelligence officer said the organisation relies on a web of informal relations with several jehadi organisations in Pakistan for access to operational collaborators and individuals to execute attacks.
He said Al Qaeda, which mostly recruited Arabs to carry out terrorist operations, is now recruiting militants from local jehadi groups, including Al-Badr (backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami), Kashmiri outfits Harkat-ul Mujahideen and Jaish-e Mohammad, and the Sunni group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Most of these groups had, until recently, focused their energies on Kashmir.
However, it now seems that those pursuing the anti-Western cause and the Kashmir cause have developed strong links. The new groups are small, receive funding from Al Qaeda, and attack Western targets.
Al Qaeda now operates in small independent groups of 10 or less members, creating an operational command that keeps on working even if there is a bust. The officer cited the example of one such group headed by Attaur Rehman, who masterminded a series of terrorist attacks in Karachi.
Though the group received orders from senior Al Qaeda leaders, it had no direct link. Therefore, Rehman’s arrest could not help unearth other cells.
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