Pakistani militant groups, most of whom previously focused on attacking Kashmir, have increased their collaboration with al-Qaeda, providing safe haven to its fighters and supporting its operations against the West, a top US intelligence official has warned.
"...Since early 2006, Pakistani militant groups have increased their collaboration with al-Qaeda. This includes ethnic Pashtun groups native to the tribal areas and groups from eastern Pakistan, most of whom previously focused on attacking Kashmir in India," said Ted Gistaro, National Intelligence Officer for Transnational Threats in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
"While a major focus of these groups is conducting attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan, they provide safe haven to al-Qaeda fighters, collaborate on attacks inside Pakistan, and support al-Qaeda's external operations, including against the West," the officer said at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
The new assessment is seen as an update from a National Intelligence Estimate issued a year ago, which said al-Qaeda was seeking to deploy agents trained to carry out operations in the West.
"...Al-Qaeda is identifying, training and positioning operatives for attacks in the West, including in the US. These operatives include North American and European citizens and legal residents with passports that allow them to travel to the United States without an American visa," Gistaro said.
However, he said they were not aware of any specific, credible al-Qaeda plot to attack the US homeland. But they do receive a steady stream of threat reporting from sources of varying creditability.