Afghanistan

Leaked report shows Taliban's ambitions

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A leaked NATO report suggests the Taliban is being backed by Pakistan and plans to retake Afghanistan once NATO forces withdraw.

The Times newspaper claims the "highly classified" report was put together by the US military at Bagram air base in Afghanistan for top NATO officers last month.

Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), has confirmed the document's existence but said it was not a strategic study of operations.

"The classified document in question is a compilation of Taliban detainee opinions," he said. "It's not an analysis, nor is it meant to be considered an analysis."

The report includes claims that Pakistan’s most powerful security agency - the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) - is assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told the Reuters news agency: "This is frivolous, to put it mildly. We are committed to non-interference in Afghanistan."

The U.S. embassy in Kabul declined to comment on the report. The Ministry of Defence said it was a matter for NATO.

Meanwhile, the Taliban has denied reports that it was about to hold talks with Afghan government officials.

Rumours have swirled for days that President Hamid Karzai's government was seeking direct talks to be held in neutral Saudi Arabia.

But a statement from Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the reports were "baseless."

He said negotiations to end the 10-year-old war cannot begin until trust is established between the Islamist militants and the US and its international coalition..

The Taliban have so far expressed willingness only to talk with the US, calling the Afghan government a puppet.

Washington insists eventual talks must be Afghan-led and involve Mr Karzai's government.