Quetta, Pakistan
Former members of the Taliban are regrouping in western Pakistan, The New York Times reported this week. Since an alliance of ultraconservative religious parties won local elections in the region last fall, the many Afghan refugees there have begun meeting openly to discuss installing an Islamic government back home. Pakistani officials have repeatedly said that none of the senior Taliban members are among the refugees in Pakistan. Some former top Taliban officials, though, have belied that claim by giving interviews to local journalists. Pakistani opposition leaders say the Pakistani army and secret service are actively supporting the Taliban. “America should have elected to crush al Qaida and the Taliban in Pakistan,” said opposition figure Habib Jalib Baloch, “rather than go to war in Iraq.”
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