WASHINGTON – U.S. intelligence agencies have evidence that al Qaeda and the Taliban are becoming more organized inside Pakistan and are boldly planning more attacks on U.S. interests, The Post has learned.
Sources say U.S. spy satellites and Predator Drones have confirmed the presence of at least four al Qaeda training camps in South Waziristan, an area in the tribal badlands along the Afghan border.
One such camp, known as “the Campus,” is a relatively luxurious compound run by Pakistani militants since the Afghan-Soviet war. It has tranquil gardens and ponds, and fighters go there for religious indoctrination or to rest and recuperate, sources say. Another camp is said to have a vast complex of tunnels to provide escape in case of an attack.
U.S. officials say there’s also evidence that Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda’s No. 2 man, has visited the area in recent months and taken control of rebuilding the terror group’s infrastructure. Reports that Osama bin Laden is also there are unconfirmed.
In addition, the Taliban, flush with cash from a record year in the opium trade, is thought to be planning a spring offensive against U.S. and NATO forces from South Waziristan. Taliban leaders are believed to be operating out of the Pakistani border city of Quetta.
A Taliban commander recently told the al-Jazeera TV network that he had recruited 6,000 fighters, including hundreds of suicide bombers, for the offensive.
More NATO troops are heading to the region, and CIA Deputy Director Stephen Kappes gave evidence of the new camps to Pakistani Prime Minister Pervez Musharraf during last week’s trip to the region by Vice President Dick Cheney. Musharraf has long denied that al Qaeda is operating in his country.
U.S. officials say cash bribes to tribal leaders and scores of weddings between local women and al Qaeda fighters have cemented an unbreakable bond between the tribes and the terrorists. Niles Lathem