The British general over NATO troops in Afghanistan, Lieutenant-General David Richards, says he has proof that Pakistani intelligence (ISI) is helping the Taliban and that he can personally deliver evidence of it to President Musharraf.
The evidence which consists of data compiled by American, Nato and Afghan intelligence includes satellite pictures and videos of training camps for Taliban soldiers and suicide bombers inside Pakistan. Captured Taliban fighters have confirmed that they were trained by the ISI. The information includes an address in Quetta where Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, is said to live.
A senior US commander added: “We just can’t ignore it any more. Musharraf’s got to prove which side he is on.”
Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan, has repeatedly complained of Pakistan’s role in providing a haven for Taliban fighters, saying they have openly run camps in Karachi and Quetta. “There is an open campaign by Pakistan against Afghanistan and the presence of coalition troops here,” he said.
In Washington two weeks ago Karzai handed Pakistan the names and addresses of alleged handlers of suicide bombers using a camp near Peshawar that had been infiltrated by an Afghan informer. Last Wednesday a rubbish bag was discovered in the camp containing his body.
Pakistan is a worrisome ally and I have never felt Musharraf's heart was really in this war on terror. He is playing a dangerous game that in the end he is bound to lose.
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