On September 6, militants attempted to capture a Pakistani naval ship docked in the Arabian Sea, the pns Zulfiquar. Al Qaeda’s newly formed South Asia wing claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it planned to use the hijacked ship to attack United States Navy vessels in the area.

According to a Pakistani security official, rogue military personnel planned to take over the ship then join other al Qaeda members who would make up the crew. Once close to American ships, they planned to attack the unsuspecting vessels. However, the rogue officers failed to obtain the ship. They were discovered and killed before they could carry out their plan.

This happened even as the U.S. withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, Pakistan’s neighbor. With the decrease of U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, al Qaeda has increased its presence in Pakistan. This has increased the recruitment of Pakistani military personnel.

The goal of al Qaeda’s South Asia wing, created in early September, is to convert non-believers in the area. Evidently, it is having success in Pakistan. This attempted attack shows how imbedded al Qaeda is becoming in Pakistan—even among the officer class. How did the infiltrators sneak on board the Pakistani vessel? They didn’t. According to a Pakistani security official, “The rogue officers were in uniform and had their service cards displayed. They simply walked on board.”

The al Qaeda-recruited naval personnel “simply walked on board.” What would stop other al Qaeda recruits from walking into another division of the military, such as the air force, to get their hands on other sophisticated equipment?

As Trumpet writer Jeremiah Jacques recently noted, Pakistan is incredibly unstable. “The unrest has unnerved the country where power is often transferred by military coups instead of elections,” he wrote, in reference to demonstrations against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in mid-August. There is great concern in the international community regarding the nuclear power of Pakistan. How easily could al Qaeda initiate a coup within the Pakistani military, giving it access to nuclear weapons?

In January 2008, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote, “Pakistan also has the nuclear bomb and could be taken over by radical Islam, with plenty of help from Iran. That means it could become a proxy of the Iranian mullahs. This would be the worst possible disaster!”

How compromised is Pakistan? The fact that al Qaeda can “simply walk on board” a ship and attempt to take the vessel over shows a great weakness in the Pakistani military. A compromised military allows for a Trojan horse-style attack. This could be disastrous in a nuclear nation like Pakistan. If you think the Middle East is unstable now, what will it be like with terrorists holding their fingers on the buttons?

The attempted capture of a Pakistani frigate could be a sign of more compromises in the Pakistani military, which could eventually provide al Qaeda access to nuclear weapons.