Washington, July 01: Al-Qaida and its extremist allies are under tremendous pressure in Pakistan and Afghanistan and the global terror network has been weakened elsewhere by popular Muslim disaffection due to its targeting of the community people, a top US official has said.
“In the key countries of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the group is under serious pressure,” Robert F Godec, Principal Deputy Co-coordinator for Terrorism in the State Department said. There us “growing resolve” in both Afghanistan and Pakistan to “defeat” al-Qaida, he added.
“While al-Qaida has had some successes over the years, it has also suffered a number of important setbacks recently.
Al-Qaida has been weakened by popular Muslim disaffection from its indiscriminate targeting of Muslims in Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and elsewhere.
The number of imams, clerics and former militants speaking out against the organisation is increasing.
–PTI