Secret accord between Pak military, intelligence and US for drone attacks: WSJ

New York, Feb.18 (ANI): Even though Pakistan has categorically denied the use of its airbases for carrying out drone attacks along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, it has now been revealed that there is a secret accord between the Pakistani military, intelligence and US forces.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Pakistan's intelligence and military are secretly supporting the US-led unmanned predator attacks on militant hideouts in the tribal regions.

Islamabad has been regularly opposing the attacks saying they are proving 'counter-productive' in the 'War on Terror', but Pakistani military and intelligence officials see the strikes as a success.

"The Predator strikes are more and more precise," a Pakistani official said.

There have been 30 missile attacks by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since August 2008, and security forces have claimed to have sanitized more than 50 suspected militants in the last two attacks which targeted the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Inter-Services Intelligence officials have also said that the last month's arrest of Zabu ul Taifi,a Saudi national and alleged Al-Qaeda operative, from Khyber Agency area was possible due to a better co-ordination between the US led forces and Pakistani intelligence.

"It was direct result of better cooperation with the US, through a combination of human intelligence from Pakistani agents, informants on the ground and aerial surveillance by US drones," an ISI official said.

Pakistan's Army spokesperson Major General Akhtar Abbas, also said that Pakistan and the US has a long history of 'military cooperation and intelligence sharing.' (ANI)