Growing violence in Pakistan is being closely watched by US military officials who are concerned that the instability could strengthen al-Qaeda strongholds along the border with Afghanistan, a senior Defense Department official said.
Pakistani security forces, who have faced heavy opposition from insurgents in these tribal areas, have had their "ups and downs," said Michael Vickers, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict.
"The level of violence is ramping up. It isn't Iraq, but it's getting worse," he said on Friday.
Yet there are no plans to involve US forces in military operations inside Pakistan.
Vickers said the fighting has not affected US operations in Afghanistan, where the US-led coalition has maintained a presence since October 2001 after routing the harsh Taliban-led Islamic government that had sheltered al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's government is "a very important ally in the war in terror," Vickers said.
But the relationship has become strained since Musharraf imposed emergency rule on Nov. 3, a move criticized by the US.
US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte was scheduled to meet with Musharraf yesterday.
Despite the internal issues, Vickers said Pakistan can do more to stem terrorist activity.
"We would always like them to do more given the importance of the problem," he said. "They're certainly doing a lot."
Vickers, confirmed by the Senate in July as the Pentagon's top civilian official for special operations, has substantial experience in central Asia. As a CIA officer in the early 1980s, he led the US effort to arm the Afghan rebels who ultimately drove the Soviet army out of Afghanistan.
Vickers, affirming a belief held by US officials, said he believes bin Laden is hiding in western Pakistan, an area that operates autonomously from Musharraf's government.
The administration of US President George W. Bush has been trying to capture or kill bin Laden since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"If we knew, I think we'd kill or capture him. We're trying very hard to do that," Vickers said.
The remoteness of the area and the hostility of the population there to Pakistani forces compound the problem of finding the al-Qaeda leader, he said.
"The al-Qaeda senior leadership has had time to build relationships there with the locals," he said. "They tend to be rather circumspect about their movements."
Eric Rudolph, who committed a series of bombings across the US in the 1990s, avoided federal authorities for nearly five years in the Appalachian wilderness, he noted.
"This is that on steroids," Vickers said.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS