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Patterson is the US Ambassador to Pakistan. She admits the US does not have much intelligence info on Quetta. They have to catch up fast.
Patterson says Quetta Shura high on US list
Patterson says Quetta Shura high on US list
30 Sept [Dawn] WASHINGTON: The United States has now turned its focus to Quetta, claiming that it has now become a major Taliban base from where Mullah Omar and his commanders plan and launch cross-border strikes into Afghanistan.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post quoted US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson as saying that Quetta was high on Washington’s list of terrorist bases in the region.
‘In the past, we focussed on Al Qaeda because they were a threat to us. The Quetta Shura mattered less to us because we had no troops in the region,’ she said. ‘Now our troops are there on the other side of the border, and the Quetta Shura is high on Washington’s list.’
Gen Stanley A. McChrystal, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, has also raised alarms about the Quetta Shura, describing it in his recent report to President Barack Obama as a major command centre for the widening wave of Taliban bombings and attacks.
Other US officials claim that virtually all of the Afghan Taliban’s strategic decisions are made by the Quetta Shura. Decisions flow from the group ‘to Taliban field commanders, who in turn make tactical decisions that support the Shura’s strategic direction,’ one such official told the US media.
Ambassador Patterson acknowledged that the United States is far less familiar with the vast desert region than with Fata, where it has been cooperating closely with Pakistan for several years in the hunt for Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and where it periodically kills insurgents with missiles fired from remotely piloted aircraft.
‘Our intelligence on Quetta is vastly less. We have no people there, no cross-border operations, no Predators,’ the ambassador said. ....
She said Pakistani officials were growing ‘extremely nervous’ that the current policy disputes in Washington would lead to a premature US pullout from Afghanistan. ‘They will not rush to cut ties with the Taliban if they think they will be back in charge there again,’ she said.
Although the media have often quoted unnamed US officials as expressing doubts on Pakistan’s sincerity to fight the Quetta Taliban, this marks the first time a senior US official has publicly endorsed such claims. .....
On Tuesday, The Washington Post quoted US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson as saying that Quetta was high on Washington’s list of terrorist bases in the region.
‘In the past, we focussed on Al Qaeda because they were a threat to us. The Quetta Shura mattered less to us because we had no troops in the region,’ she said. ‘Now our troops are there on the other side of the border, and the Quetta Shura is high on Washington’s list.’
Gen Stanley A. McChrystal, the top US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, has also raised alarms about the Quetta Shura, describing it in his recent report to President Barack Obama as a major command centre for the widening wave of Taliban bombings and attacks.
Other US officials claim that virtually all of the Afghan Taliban’s strategic decisions are made by the Quetta Shura. Decisions flow from the group ‘to Taliban field commanders, who in turn make tactical decisions that support the Shura’s strategic direction,’ one such official told the US media.
Ambassador Patterson acknowledged that the United States is far less familiar with the vast desert region than with Fata, where it has been cooperating closely with Pakistan for several years in the hunt for Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and where it periodically kills insurgents with missiles fired from remotely piloted aircraft.
‘Our intelligence on Quetta is vastly less. We have no people there, no cross-border operations, no Predators,’ the ambassador said. ....
She said Pakistani officials were growing ‘extremely nervous’ that the current policy disputes in Washington would lead to a premature US pullout from Afghanistan. ‘They will not rush to cut ties with the Taliban if they think they will be back in charge there again,’ she said.
Although the media have often quoted unnamed US officials as expressing doubts on Pakistan’s sincerity to fight the Quetta Taliban, this marks the first time a senior US official has publicly endorsed such claims. .....
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