In an exceptional move, Russia extended important intelligence information to Islamabad about the presence of top Uzbek militant Tahir Yuldashev and dozens of other Central Asian militants in South Waziristan Agency. âThe Russians have long been tracking the Chechens and other Central Asian militants who left Afghanistan after the fall of Taliban government a couple of years back but it was only recently that they informed Islamabad about the presence of these people in South Waziristan Agency,â diplomatic sources said. They said that this Russian information, based on the inputs from some credible Afghan sources, was handed over to Pakistani authorities as both the countries have entered a new era of bilateral cooperation after a period of stagnation spread over several years. The sources said that it could not be assumed that the Russian information alone led to the bloodiest operation in South Waziristan Agency but that did play a vital role in this regard.
According to Pakistani officials, Tahir Yuldashev was one of the top al-Qaeda leaders and was also head of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. He was injured in the recent military operation near Wana and now was hiding most likely somewhere in the tribal area, they said. Despite Yuldashevâs escape Pakistan army arrested dozens of foreign militants including Chechens and Uzbeks. But, according to the sources, the Russian government had not made any request to Islamabad so far to hand over some wanted persons.
| "What'd we do with 'em? We have enough people in jug. You guys put 'em up for awhie." |
The sources said that Islamabad was also seeking Russian weapons for Pakistanâs armed forces and the matter would be raised at bilateral commission to be established by the end of 2004. The sources said that earlier Russia supplied MI-17 dual-purpose helicopters to Pakistan, an important step along with some others that were described as signs of thaw in the relations of two states. |