The release last month of eight new documents, captured during the raid that killed Usama bin Laden, is allowing us to re-examine conclusions reached earlier about al-Qaeda (AQ). Two previous posts used the new evidence to look at the relationship between AQ’s leadership and affiliates, and at Bin Laden’s involvement in running his own organization. This post examines what the documents have to say about the complex relationship between AQ and Pakistan.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) offshoot Jamat-ul-Ahrar claimed credit for suicide bombings on two churches in Lahore, Pakistan. Ehsanullah Ehsan, the group’s spokesman, tweeted the claim on March 15 and stated that it had been carried out by the group’s “Aafia Siddique Brigade.”