Several Europeans trained in Pak tribal camps: US claims

US intelligence officials claimed that dozens of white Europeans have received training in terrorist camps in Pakistan’s tribal regions in recent months.

Government officials suspect the terrorists, recruited in Europe, have been dispatched to plan attacks against Europe and possibly the United States. The alleged terrorists hail from Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Romania and Estonia, sources said.

It was claimed in the report that some European recruits may have already gone operational. Two of the suspects arrested in a September 2007 plot to kill American soldiers in Germany were native Germans, and U.S. officials say they are investigating whether they were trained in Pakistan.

US intelligence officials said they fear it may be the beginnings of a new breed of al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorism.

An April 2008 report from Europol also noted that an increasing number of European nationals attended training in Pakistan “and were later involved in, or suspected of, terrorist offences in the EU.”