The path to terrorist training in Pakistan is well worn — developed and maintained by established militant groups that have operated for decades. They are open to those — Americans included — with enough determination and savvy to navigate both the extremist networks and the dangerous borderlands.
Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American charged in the failed Times Square bombing, is among those to make the journey, US prosecutors allege. Five young American Muslims tried to link up with extremists with less success, officials said: They now face trial in Pakistan.
Retired Brigadier Mahmood Shah, the military’s former pointman in the tribal regions, said the numbers of would-be jihadists are dropping because Pakistani military operations and two years of US drone airstrikes have made Somalia and Yemen more attractive destinations.
However, analysts and Pakistani officials said that for those would-be jihadists, including foreigners, willing to take the risk, it is surprisingly easy for them to reach training facilities in the border area.
Would-be jihadis, many of whom are recruited by al-Qaeda operatives abroad, enter Pakistan, either through the northwestern city of Peshawar or the southern port city of Karachi. From there, they make their way through safe houses to the border area, according to Pakistani intelligence and security officials.
Training takes place in makeshift mobile camps that move about to avoid detection by US drones that have killed up to 300 people this year, according to the New America Foundation, which keeps a database of the attacks. Human rights groups believe many of the dead have been civilians, fueling anti-Americanism among Pakistan’s 175 million people and possibly encouraging young Muslims to join the jihad.
A Pakistani intelligence official involved in the investigation into Shahzad’s activities in Pakistan said al-Qaeda operatives arrange their trip to Pakistan and provide a local contact who takes them from the airport to the network of safe houses, usually in congested neighborhoods.
Once in the country, foreigners of Pakistani origin such as Shahzad can move freely, especially if they hold dual citizenship.
Officials say they are not routinely shadowed by the intelligence service unless their names are on an international watch list.
Trainees travel to and from the camps with escorts, who often are strangers to one another, so that if one is arrested, the rest of the network is not compromised, the official said on condition of anonymity because he’s not supposed to release information.
The brother of a militant who had attended a camp in North Waziristan said training lasts about 20 days. Lectures on the philosophy of jihad are usually delivered by foreigners, mostly Arabs, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for his own safety.
The network relies on numerous militant organizations — such as Sipah-e-Sahaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Janghvi — that have existed in Pakistan for decades.
For security and logistics, the network also relies on private religious schools, or madrasah, as well as mosques with links to extremist groups. Some foreign militants enter the country on visas to study at a madrasa. Others are helped by madrasa students or staff, who can provide places to stay and help with transport inside the country.
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