Top Secret Nato Papers Expose Pakistan-Taliban Links

A secret Nato report has exposed the full extent of ties between the Taliban and Pakistan's security services and warns that the Afghanistan rebels are waiting in the wings for inevitable victory after the allies move out.

The highly classified report, based on 27,000 interrogations of captured insurgents, provided evidence of officers in the Pakistan intelligence service (ISI) assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against Nato forces. Intelligence officers knew the whereabouts of Taliban leaders, the report claimed.

The leaks, exposed on the BBC, alleged widespread support of the Taliban by Afghan people because of disillusion with President Hamid Karzai's stooge government in Kabul.

We have long been concerned about ties between elements of the ISI and some extremist networks, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on the BBC.

Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a Nato spokesman said that the report was a classified internal document that is not meant to be released to the public.

The report came after the round of Taliban peace talks with US officials, prior to the setting-up of a political office for the Taliban in Qatar.

Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban, the Times said, quoting the report. Once ISAF (Nato-led forces) is no longer a factor, Taliban consider their victory inevitable.