Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

'Pakistan could be unwitting source of terror attack on US'

October 22, 2009 15:17 IST

If the continued bold terror attacks in Pakistan remain unchecked, the nuclear-armed nation could be an unwitting source of a major terrorist attack on the US with weapons of mass destruction, a report by a bi-partisan Congressional Commission warned on Thursday.

Noting that Pakistan remains the geographic crossroads for terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, the report said that the "increasingly bold attacks on well guarded military, police and UN targets indicate that the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other militant groups within Pakistan are a growing threat.The current trends, if left unchecked, will increase the odds that Al Qaeda will successfully develop and use a biological weapon or a nuclear device against the United States or its allies," the report by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism said.

"Fear of continued turmoil in Pakistan reinforces the Commission's concerns that the country could be an unwitting source of a terrorist attack on the United States possibly with weapons of mass destruction," the Commission headed by former Senator Bob Graham said in its interim report on Thursday. The Commission is a legacy of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of 9/11 and the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the US (the 9/11 Commission). It was established by the US Congress to address the grave threat that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction poses to the United States.

Lalit K Jha in Washington
© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.