I never know what to make of Asia Times, but this is an interesting piece that says the plan to abandon population centers in Afghanistan is resulting in precisely what the strategy is supposed to prevent: expanded safe havens for al-Qaeda’s strategic depth.

The province is now under the effective control of the network belonging to Qari Ziaur Rahman, a Taliban commander with strong ties to Bin Laden. This makes Nuristan the first Afghan province to be controlled by a network inspired by al-Qaeda.

In a telephone conversation on Wednesday, a militant linked to Rahman said that now that they had control of Nuristan, the militants are “marching towards Mohmand and Bajaur to help their fellow Taliban fighting against Pakistani troops”, referring to two tribal agencies across the border.