Al-Qaeda appears to be increasing its influence among Islamist militant groups along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan, with offers of money, training and other assistance, US experts say.
Osama bin Laden's group, which has been rebuilding in safe havens in Pakistan for over a year, has taken a prominent role in a new effort by the Taliban and other radical organizations to coordinate their operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"We are seeing an increase in cooperation between the [Afghan] insurgents as well as the terrorists led by al-Qaeda. They are increasing in their coordination," said US Army Major General David Rodriguez, commander of NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan.
"They're cross-fertilizing their tactics, techniques and procedures and also again getting resourcing mainly from al-Qaeda, who is the central player in the terrorism equation," he said in a videolink from Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Some analysts say the violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan constitutes a single struggle against a cross-border militant threat in the Pashtun region.
"It really always has been. The fact is that we drove the Taliban into Pakistan, along with the other Islamist elements [after the 2001 invasion]," said Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Al-Qaeda has long played a role in militant activity along the border region by providing training and information operations for groups in both countries. But some analysts believe al-Qaeda may now be trying to compensate for weakened Taliban influence in eastern Afghanistan that resulted from NATO's capturing or killing a number of Taliban leaders last year.
In other news, a US aid worker and her Afghan colleague kidnapped in Kandahar a month ago have been killed, their employer said, citing unconfirmed information received in recent days.
The governor of Kandahar, where the two were snatched on Jan. 26, could not immediately confirm the statement posted on the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation's Web site on Tuesday.
"We are deeply grieved to report the apparent deaths of Muhammad Hadi and Cyd Mizell, workers who were kidnapped by gunmen on January 26 in Kandahar, Afghanistan," the statement said.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Moqbel survived a rocket and small arms ambush by suspected Taliban insurgents to the east of Kabul yesterday.
SINGAPORE
The accused head of the Singapore wing of the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militant network Jemaah Islamiah (JI) escaped yesterday afternoon from a detention center, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
A manhunt for Mas Selamat bin Kastari was underway, the ministry said in a statement.
Kastari was arrested by the Indonesian police on Bintan island in January 2006 and sent to Singapore, where he was wanted for involvement in planned attacks on Changi Airport.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source