Sydney: Al Qaida appears to be strengthening its forces in the remote border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan despite offensives by US and Pakistani troops, and is extending its global influence, Australia's spy chief said on Wednesday.

Paul O Sullivan, the head of the Australia Security Intelligence Organization, said the rise in terrorist attacks and disrupted plots since Sept. 11, 2001, demonstrated the extremist network has been able to carry on its activities. "Despite successful disruption activities, al Qaida appears to be rebuilding both its organizational structures and operational capabilities from bases in the tribal regions bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, and networks in the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe," O Sullivan said during a rare public speech to a security forum in Sydney. "However, ill founded and overwrought its world view, it is a learning and a teaching organization, pushing the horizon for violent extremism," he added.

What makes al Qaida such a dangerous creature is its ability to marry ideological intensity with organizational resilience and adaptability. Australia, which maintains some 900 troops in Afghanistan, is one of several countries blaming a recent rise in violence in the central Asian nation on increasing attacks by al Qaida and Taliban insurgents hiding in remote camps along Pakistan's rugged northwestern border.

Pakistan, a key US ally, insists it is doing all it can to secure its northern frontier, and has sent some 90,000 troops to the region to try and block cross border incursions by al Qaida militants. Earlier this week, Pakistani intelligence officials said a missile attack launched from Afghanistan destroyed a militant training camp in Pakistan killing more than 20 insurgents. But the Pakistani army said the explosions were triggered when bombs the militants were making exploded accidentally.

Several raids on suspected terror targets in Pakistan have apparently been launched from Afghanistan, though the US and Pakistan rarely confirm their involvement in such strikes. O Sullivan also lauded the recent arrest of two key Indonesian terror suspects, who were caught with direct assistance from Australian and US officials, but said there was "no room for complacency" in Southeast Asia while fugitive Malaysian terror suspect Noordin Top remained at large.

Indonesian police seized Zarkasih, identified as the head of al Qaida linked Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Dujana, the group's military commander, on June 9. "Successful counterterrorism efforts by Indonesian authorities have eroded JI s capabilities, but Noordin Mohammed Top remains at large, and there is no room for complacency, O Sullivan said.