The United States is escalating unilateral strikes against al-Qaeda militants in tribal areas amid fears that the new government here will curtail such attacks, a report said on Thursday.
The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that the US administration wants to do as much damage as it can to al-Qaeda because it is worried that President Pervez Musharraf will have reduced powers in coming months.
The Washington Post report said that in the past three months US Predator drones hit at least three sites used by al-Qaeda militants in tribal regions near the Afghan border, killing about 45 Arab, Afghan and other foreign fighters.
The strikes followed a “tacit understanding” with Musharraf and COAS Gen Ashfaq Kayani that permits US strikes on foreign rebels in Pakistan, but not against Pakistani Taliban, the Post quoted officials as saying.
It quoted one senior official as describing the strikes as a “shake the tree” strategy designed to force Osama bin Laden and key lieutenants to move in ways that US intelligence can detect. In January, a missile strike attributed to the United States killed senior al-Qaeda commander Abu Laith al-Libi.
There was no immediate response from Pakistani officials on the report. “It’s not a blitz to close this chapter,” a senior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the newspaper. “If we find the leadership, then we’ll go after it. But nothing can be done to put al-Qaeda away in the next nine or 10 months. In the long haul, it’s an issue that extends beyond this administration.”