ISLAMABAD, Feb 14: Latest intelligence estimates put the number of Al Qaeda men taking refuge in Pakistan’s tribal belt at 50, at the most.

“According to our intelligence reports based on the survey of tribal areas there are only some 30-plus Al Qaeda members left in the tribal belt or 50, at the most,” well-informed military sources told Dawn on Friday.

According to these sources the Al-Qaeda men were now stranded in the tribal belt where people were generally sympathetic to them. “They have been abandoned by the Al Qaeda that fled Afghanistan following the US-led military operation there,” remarked a well-placed defence official. He said these Al Qaeda men were now basically stuck there and faced with a no-exit situation.

Information based on the military intelligence in these areas indicates that these people are mostly from Chechnya, Russia and Uzbekistan. Other Al Qaeda members suspected to be hiding there are thought to be nationals of Egypt, Morocco and Jordan. “They have been trapped there and don’t know where to go,” disclosed a high-ranking Pakistani official.

However, the US authorities believe there are still many ISI- supported Al Qaeda men hiding in the tribal areas. Pakistani security officials on the other hand maintain that there is a mismatch in the information provided by the US intelligence agency, CIA, and Centcom. They claim that more than 90 per cent of the targets identified by Centcom yielded nothing when searched by Pakistani security agencies.

Pakistani security and law-enforcement agencies have remanded to the custody of US authorities close to 450 suspected Al-Qaeda men since the launch of US-led anti-terror campaign in Sept 2001.