Lahore, Sept 15 : A UN official exclusively entrusted the task of monitoring Al Qaeda’s movements has reportedly said that the presence of British forces in Afghanistan was providing “oxygen” for Al Qaeda “by offering the terrorist group a target”.

Richard Barrett, the head of United Nations’ Al Qaeda Monitoring Unit, who reports directly to the UN Security Council, said that the deployments of foreign troops in the country (Afghanistan) was acting as a ‘glue’ with which Al Qaeda network was “bonding support in the region”, reported the Daily Times.

The British government had sent its forces to Helmand province to prevent the region from becoming a safe haven for Al Qaeda, Barrett said and added that instead the presence of NATO troops and coalition forces in Afghanistan was helping Al Qaeda consolidate its position on the Pak-afghan border by offering the terrorist group a target.

According to him, the same case was in Iraq where military commanders had warned that British forces in Basra had fuelled support for the insurgency. (ANI)