Al Qaeda had planned major attacks in Pakistan: CIA

Islamabad, April 27 (IANS) Al Qaeda had planned to carry out major attacks in Pakistan, show documents that US Marine commandos took away from the residence of Osama bin Laden, a media report said Friday.

The CIA, based on documents seized by US Navy SEALs during the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad in May last year, has shared intelligence with Pakistan that suggests Al Qaeda planned to carry out major strikes inside Pakistan, reported Dawn.

Before Osama was gunned down, the Al Qaeda chief along with Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who took over as Al Qaeda chief in June 2011, and other senior leaders had planned to mount indiscriminate attacks on Pakistani soil.

The media report said that US has shared some of the information culled out from the documents with friendly spy services like those with Britain, but it was for the first time that the CIA shared such information with Pakistan.

The US commando raid had considerably strained ties between Washington and Islamabad. The daring operation, which saw commandos fly deep into Pakistan onboard stealth helicopters, was carried out without informing Pakistan's military. Abbottabad is barely 180 km from capital Islamabad.