CIA reportedly used vaccination campaign in Bin Laden hunt

The death of Osama bin Laden is continuing to strain relations between Pakistan and the US as fears grow for the safety of a local doctor who reportedly helped the CIA track down the al-Qaeda leader.

According to reports in the Guardian and the New York Times, US officials are concerned for the safety of Shakil Afridi, a senior Pakistani government physician who helped American intelligence chiefs carry out a daring bid to capture some of bin Laden’s DNA.

The CIA suspected the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks was hiding in a compound in Abbottabad but wanted to be sure before ordering a raid on the site.

They reportedly enlisted Dr Afridi to set up a fake vaccination programme so that he could obtain DNA samples from people in the compound and match them with Bin Laden family samples on file at the CIA.

A US official quoted in the American media said the doctor gained access to Bin Laden’s home but failed to make contact with the al-Qaeda leader or return with any DNA evidence.

US officials have said that when they sent a team of special forces soldiers into Abbottabad in a night attack in May, they were still not sure if bin Laden would be there.

Read more: Special report - the death of bin Laden

The Guardian reported that Dr Afridi is being held in Islamabad by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the spy agency that has been accused of links with the Taliban and al-Qaeda, on suspicion of working for a foreign intelligence agency.

If criminal charges follow, the suspect could face the death penalty.

Neither the Pakistani government nor the CIA has made a statement on the situation, but the doctor’s plight could deepen divisions between Washington and Islamabad as their alliance in the war against Islamist militants looks increasingly precarious.

Deadly drone attacks

Pakistani intelligence officials said at least 48 suspected militants were killed by missiles launched by US drone aircraft in the country’s northwest, one of the largest death tolls to date in the controversial bombing campaign by unmanned aircraft.

It comes a day after Washington announced it was delaying a payment of $800m (£500m) in military assistance. Pakistan threatened to pull its soldiers back from their positions near the border with Afghanistan in response.

The Pakistani army has been accused of allowing militants to sneak across the Afghan border from tribal regions in Pakistan to attack coalition forces in Afghanistan.

But Pakistan says it has guards at 1,100 border checkpoints and if they are removed, insurgents will be able to pour across into Afghanistan unhindered.

According to figures released by Congress, Washington has paid Pakistan $8.9bn (£5.6bn) in Coalition Support Funds, designed to pay for the cost of pacifying the tribal areas, since 2001.