Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network is making fresh efforts to engineer a comeback by the Taliban and regain a foothold of its own in Afghanistan, the commander of US forces in the country said Tuesday. Lieutenant General David Barno said the US believed both Bin Laden and fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar were probably still in the region, possibly on the rugged border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. "al Qaeda clearly still wants to see the Taliban stage some kind of a comeback in Afghanistan," Barno told AFP.
"They're still providing financing, with guidance, training, support and selected individuals that help lead and motivate the operations here in Afghanistan."
Barno, who leads a force of around 18,000 US troops in Afghanistan, added that al Qaeda militants were "located in tribal areas, down there in border areas, probably on both sides of the border" with Pakistan.
"We operate under the assumption that they're still in this region," he said when asked where Bin Laden and Mullah Omar were believed to be.
Despite the Taleban's failure to disrupt the historic presidential election in October last year, al Qaeda continued to back them, Barno said.
"They clearly want to use the Taliban as they have in the past tried to regain some sort of a foothold here in Afghanistan," he added.
However, Barno said positive political and economic developments in the war-torn nation had made it "less and less attractive for the Taliban".
"The Taliban realise that the future doesn't lead to a path that includes al Qaeda and Taliban... it's a democratic path that people have voted for and chosen right now," he said.
As spring comes to Afghanistan, Barno said the militant movement would likely step up attacks against civilian targets and Afghan-Pakistani border posts.
"They're looking for opportunities to strike in various places if they find a weakness. That could be in a city, that could be in remote areas," Barno said.
Barno said Taliban fighters were in disarray and would avoid direct contact with US-led troops, adding that he did not anticipate a "countrywide offensive".
As the weather warms Barno said the US hoped that Pakistan would continue to keep up the pressure on the Taliban and al Qaeda on the other side of the Afghan border. "Pakistanis have done more than any other single country in terms of arresting al Qaeda leadership and breaking down their networks inside of Pakistan," he added.