‘Al Qaeda leadership almost wiped out from Pakistan’: Report

British officials fear North Africa may become new 'theatre of jihad' as senior al Qaeda leaders reach Libya.

Senior British officials believe that the senior members of al Qaeda might be moving towards North Africa after being weakened in Pakistan and a “last push” in 2012 may definitely destroy the remaining al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan, said a report by The Guardian on Monday.

The report quoted one official as saying that the “intense campaign” of unmanned drone strikes has successfully killed many al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan and “only a handful of key players” are left alive.

Fearing that North Africa might become the new “theatre of jihad” soon, some well-informed sources told The Guardian that “two relatively senior al Qaeda figures have already made their way to Libya, with others intercepted en route”.

One source said, “A group of very experienced figures from North Africa left camps in Afghanistan’s [north-eastern] Kunar province where they have been based for several years and travelled back across the Middle East… Some got stopped but a few got through.”

A British official, while commenting on the presence of al Qaeda leaders in West Asia, told the newspaper, “I think they are really very much weakened… You can't say they don't pose a threat – they do – but it's a much lesser one.”

British and US intelligence sources told the The Guardian that there are an estimated 100 “al Qaeda or al Qaeda-affiliated” militants in Afghanistan, of whom only “a handful” were seen to pose a threat internationally to the UK or other western nations.