US officials say they are seeing the first evidence that dozens of fighters with al-Qaeda, and a small handful of the terrorist group’s leaders, are moving to Somalia and Yemen from their principal haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas. In communications that are being watched carefully at the Pentagon, the White House and the CIA, the terrorist groups in all three locations are now communicating more frequently, and apparently trying to coordinate their actions, the officials said.

Some aides to President Obama attribute the moves to pressure from intensified drone attacks against Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, after years of unsuccessful American efforts to dislodge the terrorist group from their haven there.

But there are other possible explanations. Chief among them is the growth of the jihadist campaigns in both Somalia and Yemen.

Somalia is now a failed state that bears some resemblance to Afghanistan before the September 11, 2001, attacks, while Yemen’s weak Government is ineffectually trying to combat the militants, US officials say.

The shift of fighters is still small, perhaps a few dozen, and there is no evidence that the top leaders — Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri — are considering a move from their refuge in the Pakistani tribal areas.

Most officials would not comment on the record about the details of what they are seeing, because of the sensitivity of the intelligence information they are gathering.

Leon E Panetta, the CIA director, said in remarks here on Thursday that the US must prevent al-Qaeda from creating a new sanctuary in Yemen or Somalia.

... contd.