WASHINGTON, July 8: The opposition to a sustained US military presence in Afghanistan is creating tolerance for the Taliban militants, warns a new US report on the religious movement.

The study by the prestigious US Council on Foreign Relations also reports the existence of a Pakistani Taliban movement, which is organisationally distinct from the Afghan group.

It rose up in 2002 in response to the Pakistan army’s incursions into the tribal areas to hunt down militants.

The report quotes Kenneth Katzman, an Afghan expert at the US Congressional Research Service, as saying that intolerance for a sustained US troop presence is translating into “a little more permissiveness in some areas for the Taliban.”

In an interview to the council’s researchers, Mr Katzman calls it “a worrisome trend”.

The report notes that despite the fall of senior leaders, the Taliban movement continues to “exert enormous influence on the populace,” lobbying Afghans to take up their cause.

“One unintended consequence of knocking out senior Taliban leaders has been the rapid rise of inexperienced younger leaders, some of whom have been radicalised by Al Qaeda,” warns Mr Katzman.

The report notes that the Taliban movement has also shown glimpses of its former centralised government structure.

In early 2007, the Taliban took control of Musa Qala in the north of Helmand Province, where the UN says the group established its own post-2001 administration and judiciary. The district has since been retaken by the Afghan army, but tensions remain high.

The report also acknowledges that public reaction to the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan was not wholly negative. While the rigid social standards fostered resentment, the Taliban cracked down on the corruption that had run rampant through the government for years.

The Taliban leaders also brought stability to Afghanistan, greatly reducing the infighting between warlords that had devastated the civilian population, the report adds.

“Seven years after their ouster, the Taliban continues to provide a semblance of stability in regions where coalition and government officials have been unable to restore order and provide basic services.”

The council reports that the whereabouts of Afghanistan’s exiled Taliban leaders are not fully known. “Experts say many of the Taliban were able to melt back into predominantly Pashtun areas of Afghanistan in the south and east; they have occasionally linked up with others to mount attacks, and some are working to overthrow the current government.”

The report claims that other Taliban leaders have reassembled in Pakistan and launched attacks from there. Inside Afghanistan, the Taliban increased their activities in Uruzgan, Helmand, Kandahar and Zabol provinces in the east and south.