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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Al-Qaeda training camps reactivated near Quetta |
| 2004-08-06 |
| Intelligence indicates some al Qaeda training camps have been reactivated along Pakistan's border with southeastern Afghanistan, defense and intelligence sources told CNN. Overhead surveillance imagery gathered in the past month seems to show vehicles and people recently moving into areas known to be training sites for al Qaeda, they said. One official said the camps "are of interest to the U.S. and Pakistan" but nothing indicated the recent activity at the camps was tied to the raising of the terrorist alert level in financial districts in New York City, Newark, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. The official said the United States prefers that Pakistani military forces move against the camps, situated west and southwest of Quetta. Activity ebbs and flows at known al Qaeda training sites in the region, and the U.S. official said local Pakistani forces would be best able to stage a military operation, with the help of timely U.S. intelligence. On Wednesday, two U.S. government sources said that intelligence found in Pakistan indicates that suspected al Qaeda operatives in that country recently contacted an individual or individuals in the United States. Two senior Pakistani intelligence sources said evidence exists that at least six individuals in the United States were contacted by Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, an alleged al Qaeda operative and computer expert recently taken into custody in Pakistan. U.S. officials have not confirmed that information. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |