While the Pakistani military is quick to tout the success of its military in Swat, other developments show the country has a long way to go in tackling the native terrorist problem. Today, the Lahore High Court released Hafiz Saeed, the leader of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba / Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Saeed was placed under house arrest after the UN declared the group a terrorist entity just weeks after the deadly November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Saeed was released despite the government’s presentation of evidence linking Saeed to al Qaeda. Several days ago, police captured a senior terrorist leader that established a terror camp in the northwest and was behind two recent suicide attacks that targeted security forces in Islamabad. The terrorist and a former member of parliament were detained outside the home of radical cleric Maulana Abdullah Aziz, the leader of the Red Mosque. Aziz was arrested for inciting a rebellion in the capital in the spring of 2007. Pakistani troops captured him during the siege of the Red Mosque. He was released in April and immediately preached jihad. Aziz was not detained in the May 2009 raid despite his connections to the Islamabad terrorist commander. Here is what two US intelligence officials who closely track the situation in Pakistan told me just this morning:
