Uzbek militants use Islamabad airport to reach Waziristan

Uzbek militants have been using the high-security airport of the Pakistani capital as a transit point to reach the Taliban stronghold of Waziristan region, considered a safe haven for al-Qaeda leadership, where at least 5,000 Uzbek fighters are believed to be present.

Habibullah Khan Khattak, additional chief secretary of the tribal areas, told a parliamentary standing committee yesterday that the strength of Uzbek fighters in North and South Waziristan tribal agencies is "not less than 5,000".

He said their movements were not restricted to the tribal belt as they also travelled to Balochistan province.

Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, a member of the Senate or upper house of parliament from the Jamaat-e-Islami, told The News daily that his party had "received information from North Waziristan that the Uzbek militants land at Islamabad airport (and) take a taxi to reach Mirali where they have a strong presence". Khan said officials in the secretariat for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas "also know this".

A senior unnamed official in the Secretariat too confirmed to the newspaper that militants use Islamabad airport to enter Pakistan and then travel to Waziristan. Though most militants used routes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, air routes are also used by the rebels, the official said.

The official "scoffed" at the measures adopted by the Federal Investigation Agency to screen travellers at the airport and said immigration procedures were "too lax" to prevent militants from using air routes.