Pakistan, it has been said, is either unwilling or incapable of clamping down on the Taliban. According to CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen, writing in the Washington Post on Sunday: "The key to the resurgent Taliban can be summarised in one word: Pakistan. The Pakistani government has proved unwilling or incapable (or both) of clamping down on the religious militia."Bergen notes, quoting a United States military official, that not a single senior Taliban leader has been arrested or killed in Pakistan since 2001, nor have any of the top leaders of the militias headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani, who are fighting the US forces alongside the Taliban. The Taliban's Quetta Shura, is based in the Baloch capital, while the Peshawar Shura is based in the NWFP capital. Hekmatyar is said to operate in the tribal areas of Dir and Bajaur, while Haqqani is based in Waziristan and Al Qaeda has a presence in Waziristan and Chitral.
Bergen writes: "Finally, the peace deal announced this month between the Pakistani government and pro-Taliban militants along the Afghan border raises more concerns that such groups will operate more freely on and across the border. A US military official told me he is 'extremely worried' about the pact."