Dozens of al-Qaeda fighters and some of the extremist group's leaders are shifting from their haven in Pakistan's tribal areas to Somalia and Yemen, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Violent militant groups in all three countries are now communicating more frequently in an apparent effort to coordinate their actions, US administration, military and counterterrorism officials told the Times.

A senior administration official attributed the shift to "the enormous heat we've been putting on the leadership and the mid-ranks" with Predator drone strikes launched from Pakistan and Afghanistan that President Barack Obama has intensified since taking office in January.

"Al Qaeda has been hit by drones and it has generated a lot of insecurity among them," said retired Pakistani general Talat Masood, a military analyst in Islamabad.

"Many among them are uneasy and it is possible that they are leaving for Somalia and other jihadi battle fronts ... The hard core, however, will like to stay on."

Another explanation, the newspaper said, may owe to expanded violent extremist campaigns in Somalia and Yemen, with US officials pointing to Somalia as a failed state and to a weak central government in Yemen.

CIA Director Leon Panetta said Thursday that the intelligence agency is focusing on countries like Somalia and Yemen as possible safe havens for al-Qaeda. The group's leader, Osama bin Laden, is still hiding in Pakistan, Panetta told reporters.

US officials cautioned, however, that only a small number of fighters were shifting grounds, and that there was no evidence that top al-Qaeda leaders were considering leaving the tribal regions along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

"There are indications that some al-Qaeda terrorists are starting to see the tribal areas of Pakistan as a tough place to be," a US counterterrorism official told the Times.

"It is likely that a small number have left the region as a result. Among these individuals, some have probably ended up in Somalia and Yemen, among other places. The al-Qaeda terrorists who are leaving the tribal areas of Pakistan are predominantly foot soldiers."

AFP

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