WASHINGTON, March 19: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said that the United States was concerned about the activities of the Taliban’s ‘Quetta shura’ in Balochistan but disagreed with the suggestion to use drones against them as well.

At a regular briefing at the Pentagon, Mr Gates also vowed to catch Osama bin Laden no matter how long it takes.

Asked to comment on media reports that a group of Taliban militants known as the Quetta shura were using Balochistan as a base to conduct operations inside Afghanistan, Mr Gates said: “We all have a concern about the Quetta shura and the activities of the Taliban in that area.”

But he disagreed with the suggestion that the US should use CIA-operated unmanned drone aircraft to attack the Quetta shura as well.

“I think this is principally a problem and a challenge for the Pakistanis to take on. And as we have indicated, we are prepared to do anything we can to help them do that,” the secretary said.

The US uses the drone aircraft, known as the Predators, to attack Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in Fata. Besides eliminating some of the militants, the drone attacks also have killed scores of civilians, causing widespread resentment against the US.

Another journalist at the briefing observed that while Pakistan was helping the US against Al Qaeda, it was not cooperating in the fighting against the Taliban militants.

Asked to comment on this assessment, which the journalist attributed to US intelligence officials, Mr Gates said: “I’m not going to get into that.”

Talking about the possibility of catching Osama bin Laden, Secretary Gates recalled that it took the US Federal Investigation Agency 17 years to catch convicted Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski.

He dismissed the notion that something might be amiss because Bin Laden and his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, remained free more than seven years after the Sept 11 attacks.

Difficult task

“To a certain extent, I think too many people go to too many movies. Finding these guys is really hard, and especially if they have some kind of a support network,” he said.“We’ve done some serious damage to Al Qaeda over the last number of months,” Mr Gates, a former CIA director, said without confirming any missile attacks against Al Qaeda targets.

“Everybody continues to look for No. 1 and No. 2. And we will continue that effort and I think everyone’s hope is that one of these days, we’ll be successful,” he said.

The new US strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan will continue drone attacks at suspected terrorist targets inside Fata, US officials said.

Information leaked to the US media indicates that the Obama administration will continue the attacks initiated by its predecessors.

The officials, however, said the attacks would not be expanded to other areas. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the drone attacks might be expanded to Balochistan.

The Washington Post and other media outlets said the US would not expand the attacks and instead would urge the Pakistani army to engage militants hiding beyond Fata.

The officials also said that under the new strategy the Obama administration would provide enhanced counter-insurgency weaponry to the Pakistani military.

The new strategy calls for a massive expansion in US economic and development assistance to Pakistan.

Under this strategy, the US will deploy hundreds of additional diplomats and civilian officials for Afghanistan.

Veteran US diplomats Peter Galbraith and Francis Ricciardone Jr will lead this team.

Mr Galbraith will get the unprecedented title of “deputy ambassador” to boost the diplomatic weight of the US embassy.

President Barak Obama last week nominated Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, the former US military commander in Afghanistan, as the country’s ambassador.

Meanwhile, US officials confirmed that Pakistan and Afghanistan would be at the top of President Obama’s agenda when he visits Europe later this month for consulting allies.

The officials said that Mr Obama would announce his new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan before leaving Washington for the visit.

The president is scheduled to attend a 73-nation meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Netherlands on March 31, and the April 3-4 Nato summit in France.
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