US poised to hit Taliban targets

US commandos are reportedly poised to launch raids against Al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan as Washington moves an aircraft carrier into the Arabian Sea, The Australian reported on Friday.

The redeployment of the Abraham Lincoln and its escort vessels from the Gulf came after US military intelligence officials recorded an increase in the number of foreign fighters travelling to Pakistan's tribal areas to join with militants.

A US military spokesman told The New York Times there had been a corresponding drop in the number of foreign fighters entering Iraq - now less than 40 a month, compared with up to 110 a month one year ago - and that "the flow may reflect a change that is making Pakistan, not Iraq, the preferred destination for some Sunni fighters from the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia seeking to take up arms against the West".

The officials say the influx shows a strengthening of Al-Qaeda forces in the tribal areas, a key base of support for the Taliban.

The Paper reported that jihadist websites were encouraging foreign fighters to go to Pakistan and Afghanistan, which was considered a "winning fight", compared with the insurgency in Iraq.

Three US congressmen back from a trip to the region have revealed they were briefed about US plans to stage raids against targets in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas, where most of the militancy feeding the insurgency in Afghanistan is believed to be based.