NATO and Pakistan sharing tactical plans

NATO commanders in Afghanistan have begun traveling to Pakistan to share plans for military operations for the first time, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

The apparent aim is to make sure that militants don't slip back and forth in the unmarked, mountainous border region to escape coalition or Pakistani forces.

According to the official, who briefed reporters on condition that he not be named, the sharing of tactical information represents a new level of cooperation for the military forces battling the Taliban, al-Qaida and other militants.

The official said it had not happened before.

But at the same time, said the official and another senior administration official, it is not yet clear if a spate of recent major arrests of Taliban commanders amounts to a major shift from Pakistan's long reluctance to go hard after militants entrenched in its border provinces.

The officials also said that the administration plans a new strategic review next December to determine whether its stepped-up war in Afghanistan is working. President Barack Obama spent much of last year reviewing U.S. war aims with top officials before agreeing last December to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Both officials said the capture of about 15 senior and midlevel Taliban figures in Pakistan in recent weeks, coupled with those killed in suspected CIA missile strikes, has raised pressure on the militants.

The first official said Taliban leaders can no longer be certain of finding "safe haven" in Pakistan after battling coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Missiles launched from U.S. drones have reportedly killed dozens of militants in Pakistan in recent months, but American officials do not confirm the existence of the covert CIA program.

The first official praised the recent captures, which included the Taliban's No. 2 leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. Baradar, the operational leader for the faction's war against coalition forces in Afghanistan, has been portrayed by both U.S., Pakistani and Afghan officials as a major blow to the Taliban.

But the U.S. official cautioned that the arrests did not necessarily signal that Pakistan is adopting a harder line against the militants, who have long enjoyed relative sanctuary in that country.

The official also told reporters he had seen no evidence Pakistan played any role in Friday's suicide bombings in Kabul, which Afghan President Hamid Karzai said were aimed at Indians working in Afghanistan.

Six Indians were among the 16 people killed in the attacks, which wounded 36. The Taliban has long opposed India's involvement in the country. In particular, Pakistan opposes India's ties to the Northern Alliance, which helped the U.S. oust the Taliban regime in 2001 and formed the backbone of Karzai's government.