Taliban leadership 'planning attacks'

Almost the entire leadership of the Taliban and al-Qa'ida are planning operations from western Pakistan with about 1,000 fighters at their disposal, the American military commander in Afghanistan believes.

Major-General Franklin Hagenbeck said the fighters were planning a range of terror attacks, including suicide and car bombings, to disrupt the loya jirga due to be held next month in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, to select a new national government.

"We know that they are there and have a capability to do harm to this country," the general said. "Our job is to deny them the freedom of movement and sanctuary."

The West has long believed that large portions of the Taliban and al-Qa'ida command were able to escape from Afghanistan and enter Pakistan's tribal areas south of the border. Many are believed to have slipped away after the drawn-out battles in the mountains of Tora Bora.

But General Hagenbeck's comments – made in an interview with The New York Times – are the strongest indication yet that America believes those fighters could be ready to carry out fresh operations.

General Hagenbeck said intelligence reports also indicated that some of the Taliban leadership had returned to Afghanistan where they were trying to organise guerrilla operations. "They are looking to do something violent that would be, in their eyes and internationally, so spectacular that it would convince the local populace who are sitting on the fence or supporting us that they need to re-embrace the Taliban," he said.

There is supporting evidence that much of the Taliban and al-Qa'ida leadership did indeed escape and is reorganising its fighters. In an interview with the Associated Press given inside Pakistan, two former high-ranking Taliban leaders said suicide attacks against America and Britain were being planned.