Taliban command and control system is in Quetta: ISAF

KABUL: International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan has said that the Taliban command and control system is in Quetta from where it issues orders to the Taliban across the border.

A senior official at the Isaf headquarters in Kabul gave a special briefing to a delegation of the Pakistani media. He admitted that nothing could be said with surety about the location of the highest-level al Qaeda and Taliban leadership.

‘Some clues, including their financial traffic and emails suggest that they are in Pakistan but their exact location is difficult to tell.’ When asked about the level of his surety that Osama was still alive, he said, ‘Nothing can be said with surety in this regard.’

He termed the extension in the tenure of the Pak army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani important for the ongoing war against terrorism and said that continuity of command will benefit operations. The Isaf commander said that the trio commission comprising Pakistan, Allied Forces and Afghanistan was functioning efficiently. He said that the coordination and cooperation between Pakistan and Isaf has doubled during the last year.

He said that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is a challenge for the Pakistani authorities and Isaf authorities understand their difficulties and concerns in this regard.

The briefing was told that attacks through improvised explosive devices (IED), or booby traps, are a problem on both sides of the border. He said that 80 per cent of the militants fighting in Afghanistan were local and not organised.

There are 63 battalions of foreign forces working under Isaf. The total number of Isaf troops in Afghanistan is 141,397 out of which 95,126 are from the United States.

The Pakistani media delegation was told that the present strength of the Afghan National Army is 120,000, which will be increased to 135,000 by 2011. The number of Afghan police is also to be increased from the present figure of 100,000 to 135,000. All the American detention centers and jails in Afghanistan will be handed over to Afghan authorities by January 2011, the spokesperson said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2010.