Hans Rustad Amerikanske og pakistanske kilder sier Pakistans sikkerhetstjeneste, ISI, ikke har brutt kontakten med Taliban, men tvertimot aktivt støtter dem med logistikk, militært utstyr og strategisk planlegging. ISI er dermed part i krigen som ISAF og Afghanistan fører mot Taliban.
Support for the Taliban, as well as other militant groups, is coordinated by operatives inside the shadowy S Wing of the Pakistan’s spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, the officials said. There is even evidence that ISI operatives meet regularly with Taliban commanders to discuss whether the Taliban should intensify or scale back violence in the months before the Afghan elections, scheduled for August.
Details of the ISI’s continuing ties to militant groups were described by a half-dozen American, Pakistani and other security officials during recent interviews in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. All requested anonymity because they were discussing classified and sensitive intelligence information.
The American officials said proof of the ties between the Taliban and Pakistani spies came from electronic surveillance and trusted informants. The Pakistani officials interviewed said that they had firsthand knowledge of the connections, though they denied that the ties were strengthening the insurgency.
