Pakistani Taliban Expands Ambitions

Suspected in the attempted bombing of Times Square, the Pakistani Taliban has teamed up with a number of militant groups, including al Qaeda, to expand its influence in recent years, experts say. “They trade bomb makers and people around,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told The New York Times. “It’s becoming this witches’ brew.” The expanded cooperation means that the Taliban, concerned chiefly with territorial battles in Pakistan, may be becoming more threatening to targets abroad even while its overall power and influence is on the wane thanks to U.S. and Pakistani efforts to attack their base of operations. Tribal areas in Wazirstan can be used for terrorist training camps, where alleged Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad may have trained. The Taliban initially took credit for the bombing attempt, but since then has reversed course and denied any links to Shahzad.