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Flow of Western terrorist recruits increasing

* German officials say Taliban, Qaeda trying to exploit domestic opposition to Afghan war
* Officials say large number of Western recruits travelling to Afghanistan

WASHINGTON: A rising number of Western recruits, including Americans, are travelling to Afghanistan and Pakistan to train at paramilitary camps, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Citing unnamed US and European counterterrorism officials, the newspaper said the flow of recruits has continued unabated in spite of an intensified campaign over the past year by the CIA to eliminate Al Qaeda and Taliban commanders in drone missile attacks.

Since January, at least 30 recruits from Germany have travelled to Pakistan for training, said the report, citing German security sources.

About 10 people returned to Germany this year, fuelling concerns that fresh plots are in the works against European targets, the paper said.

“We think this is sufficient to show how serious the threat is,” the newspaper quotes a senior German counterterrorism official as saying.

Exploit: German officials say Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders are trying to exploit domestic opposition in Germany to the war.

Training: US and European counterterrorism officials say a rising number of Western recruits – including Americans – are travelling to Afghanistan to attend paramilitary training camps.

German security services have been on high alert since last month, when groups affiliated with the Taliban and Al Qaeda issued several videos warning that an attack on German targets was imminent if the government did not bring home its forces from Afghanistan. There are about 3,800 German troops in the country.

The videos all featured German speakers who urged Muslims to travel to Afghanistan and Pakistan to join their cause.

Last week, German officials disclosed that a 10-member cell from Hamburg had left for Pakistan earlier this year. The cell is allegedly led by a German of Syrian origin but also includes ethnic Turks, German converts to Islam and one member with Afghan roots.

Other European countries are also struggling to keep their citizens from going to Pakistan for paramilitary training.

European security officials have warned for many years of the threat posed by homegrown radicals who have gone to Afghanistan and Pakistan to wage jihad. Officials in some countries, such as Britain, said they have successfully cracked down on the number of would-be fighters going to South Asia. But others, such as Germany, are seeing a significant increase and struggling to contain it.

In a recent report, the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service said there were a “growing number of indications” that more Europeans were attending camps in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“With the extremist agenda of those allies becoming more international, at least at the propaganda level, the threat to the West and its interests has intensified,” the report found. afp/daily times monitor

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