By Rahimullah Yusufzai BBC Afghanistan analyst

The claim in a UN experts' report about the existence of new al-Qaeda training camps in the Asadabad area, the capital of Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, has surprised some observers in the region.

It is a revelation for all those who thought al-Qaeda could no longer operate in Afghanistan or run training camps there, after suffering significant disruption to its infrastructure in the war-ravaged country.

A low-ranking former Taleban official remarked that Afghans do not need any new military training as they were already trained in warfare

The five experts who drafted the report must have their reasons, as well as evidence, for reporting the presence of such camps but no other government or organization has reported such findings until now.

An unnamed US official was quoted in a report by the Reuters news agency as saying that there was no evidence of any new camp in the area.

'Sympathy' for al-Qaeda

The UN experts, led by Michael Chandler, made their findings sound vague subsequently by reporting that the said training camps change locations.

The reports said the camps were simple but the Afghan coalition forces, which are led by the US, found them notoriously difficult to control.

Mr Karzai says only small groups remain

The camps were also reported to be attracting new recruits.

The report also argued that existence of such camps was due to the continued sympathy for al-Qaeda.

Kunar, along with Paktia, Paktika and Khost, is one of the four Pashtun-populated provinces where the US-led coalition forces have been operating aggressively for more than a year to hunt down remnants of al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

The largely western forces have come under increased attacks in these provinces in recent months.

Surprise

The US and its allies are also facing some resistance in Kandahar - former headquarters of the Taleban- and the adjoining provinces in south-western Afghanistan.

But the attackers until now have refrained from establishing camps or bases as they would become easy targets for US war planes and ground forces.

Sympathy for Bin Laden's network remains

The anti-US fighters have mostly relied on hit-and-run attacks or fired long-range missiles, planted landmines and ambushed convoys.

Therefore, it was surprising to learn from the UN experts' report that al-Qaeda had activated new training camps in and around Asadabad.

It is also worth noting that the US soldiers are camped just outside Asadabad and have carried out house-to-house searches in a number of villages.

It appears highly unlikely that al-Qaeda training camps would continue to operate openly in Kunar or other provinces in the face of the relentless US-led military campaign.

Members of al-Qaeda and the Taleban as well as those loyal to former Afghan Premier Gulbaddin Hekmatyar, would prefer to remain mobile and therefore avoid offering visible targets to the US and its allies.

When asked about the existence of al-Qaeda training camps in Kunar, a low-ranking former Taleban official remarked that Afghans do not need any new military training as they were already trained in warfare.