certainly he was a significant, it, he bankrolled and helped recruit for the taliban as well as the two organizations were linked. but he didn t create a home here. he found a home here. the taliban already existed. the taliban had been the government of afghanistan. and they continued to be a potent force today. we ve just seen more attacks in the region of kandahar, multiple explosions there. a number of people killed and wounded. it s all part of the spring offensive that they said they are now about to launch and it also goes to show just how potent they are to the extent that al qaeda is still part of that organization to the extent that al qaeda gets shelter from the taliban, it is able to train with the taliban, they also will remain effective, but certainly if you talk to people here in afghanistan, the taliban is the real power and the taliban is the real threat in this country, fionnuala. stan grant in the very early hours of the morning in kabul, afghanistan. thank you ver
he was in pakistan for some time, years. now people i ve spoken to here both political figures and people on the street have said that this is really calling into question just how much pakistan knew and just how committed they are to this fight against terror whether in afghanistan, they think they have a partner for peace in pakistan. that s certainly going to also come to the fore. this is fionnuala. tal ban and al qaeda are often regard intertwined by people in afghanistan because precisely of osama bin laden s connected with that country. how would you assess the status of the tal ban at the moment but also specifically al qaeda at all in afghanistan? yeah, a very good question, fine knew la. we see bin laden as this larger than live figure, a figure who has dominated the headlines and seared into our consciousness and we imagine him as being the dominant partner here, and
pakistan. thaefl thread had begun to emerge. nobody by any stretch acknowledging this, again, very few people knowing, but there had begun to be the notion that possibly he was in more of a populated area than living in some cave on the border. barbara, what did you believe, this is fionnuala. what did you believe the point of this press briefing to be? and was there any mention of pakistan or even the possibility that some information might be gleaned from that compound that could in any way link pakistan to osama bin laden? well, on the question of pakistan, the officials said still they have no evidence at this point that pakistani government officials where are in the nope about where bin laden was hiding. we can only assume that means both military and the intelligence service of pakistan. look, clearly, they re still looking at that. pakistan has arrested a number