Islamabad, Pakistan: Even as military leaders here claim they have broken the terrorists’ network and have the al-Qaeda on the run, they remain cautious in saying that they are winning the war on terror.

“They are on the run,” said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, referring to Osama bin Laden’s group, al-Qaeda. Abbas is director general of Pakistan military’s Inter Services Public Relations. The general organized a briefing on Pakistan’s war on terror for the Philippine media delegation, who were invited here by a government think tank, the Islamabad Policy Research Institute. The delegation includes The Manila Times.

“This group [al-Qaeda] has been broken as a network,” he added. “[But] I don’t know if it has been completely finished.”

Earlier he said, “I would say that considerable progress has been made as far as curbing and restricting the movement of terrorists in these areas [along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan].”

Pakistan shares a 2,560-kilometer border with Afghanistan, which Brig. Gen. Muhammad Tariq Jilani describes as “porous” and “difficult to monitor.”

There are more than 362 places to cross between the two countries, although only two are established routes. Most are unfrequented routes over mountains.

More than 31,200 people and over 12,000 vehicles cross the border daily, according to military records. The military has established border controls, such as telemetric cards, to register and record those who frequently cross the border.

Pakistan has four military divisions, about 120,000, on the border manning 1,000 plus check posts—which Jilani concedes is not enough.

At least there are results. Jilani said about 1,000 al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists have been arrested since 9/11, the date when the World Trade Center in New York City was attacked. More than 1,400—including 535 al-Qaeda members—have been killed since then.

Jilani said these accomplishments were not without costs to Pakistan. More than 1,000 of its troops have been killed since 9/11, and nearly 2,700 have been seriously wounded.

He did not give estimates on how many al-Qaeda members remain, but he said they estimate there are five command structures functioning along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He would not elaborate what these structures are, only that they are likely smaller than battalions.

No network with Filipinos

Abbas believes there are no linkages between extremists here and terrorists in the Philippines.

Sources say that some Filipino rebels trained and fought with the muhajideen who fought during the occupation of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union.

Today, the Philippines is counting on help from Pakistan—through the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)—to achieve peace in war-ravaged Mindanao, said Ambassador Jimmy Yambao, Manila’s envoy in Islamabad. The Philippine government wants to be an observer in the OIC, and it needs the help of friendly Muslim states, such as Pakistan, to do that.

The Moro National Liberation Front is already an observer in the OIC as a nongovernment organization, Yambao added.

At least 60 Filipinos are studying at madrasas, or Islamic schools, near Lahore, he said. He added that he is certain they are not training to be terrorists, but to be imams or religious clerics when they return to the Philippines.

The Philippine Embassy in Islamabad issues the Filipino students IDs, the ambassador said, adding that he even invites them to play basketball in their spare time.

Pakistan has been cracking down on madrasas, which some believe are breeding grounds for fundamentalist movements. But officials dispute that, saying that only 1 percent or 2 percent of the 15,000 madrasas are linked to terrorists.

Ambassador Muhammad Naeem Khan, Pakistan’s envoy in Manila, said they have restricted the enrolment of Filipinos in madrasas.

Still, the reform that the Pakistani government wants to effect—such as adding science and mathematics subjects—is difficult, as religious political parties support the madrasas. And as one official said, the problem is “lack of political will.”