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Mullah Omar now in Karachi: WT

* US officials say Taliban chief fled Quetta last month with ‘help of ISI’ to avoid drone attacks

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar has fled Quetta and has found refuge from potential US attacks in Karachi, with assistance of the ISI.

Two senior US intelligence officials and a former senior CIA officer told The Washington Times that Omar traveled to Karachi last month, adding that he inaugurated a new senior leadership council in the city.

The officials were quoted as saying that the ISI helped the Taliban leaders move from Quetta, where they were exposed to attacks by unmanned US drones.

“The development reinforces suspicions that the ISI was working against US interests in Afghanistan as the Obama administration prepares to send more US troops to fight there,” the paper said. CIA veteran Bruce Riedel confirmed that Omar had been spotted in Karachi recently.

“Some sources claim the ISI decided to move him further from the battlefield to keep him safe from US drone attacks.”

The Washinton Times quoted a US counterterrorism official as saying neither Osama Bin Laden nor Al Qaeda No 2 Ayman al-Zawahri had been spotted in Karachi. He said the top two Al Qaeda figures were still thought to be in the Tribal Areas.

However, a spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington, said the US had not provided Pakistan with any credible intelligence regarding Omar’s whereabouts. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit also denied Omar’s presence in Karachi.

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