LONDON, June 2 (UPI) -- The frontier areas of Pakistan are being used by al-Qaida to train operatives, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says.
Speaking to the BBC on his visit to Britain, Chertoff said the terrorist group is using its "platform in the frontier areas of Pakistan to train operatives, including operatives who don't fit what perhaps the public believes is the normal profile of a terrorist."
The United States sees the frontier areas of Pakistan and of neighboring Afghanistan as focal points in its fight against terrorism.
Noting the terror groups are now "looking for people who can operate freely and inconspicuously in Western society," Chertoff said the fight against al-Qaida must continue.
He said there appears no threat of an imminent attack but warned that the terror groups are keen on mounting such attacks on the United States, Europe and elsewhere.
Chertoff said the "jury was still out" on the strategy of the new coalition government in Pakistan for fighting militants.
