Report: Taliban have strong Pakistani ties

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Pakistan's government denies allegations in a leaked NATO report that suggest the Taliban in Afghanistan are receiving direct assistance from Pakistan.

The BBC said the report, based on thousands of interrogations, suggests Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, ISI, is providing support to the Taliban and knows the locations of top Taliban leaders. The report says the Taliban have wide support among civilians in Afghanistan.

A Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman calld the accusations "ridiculous."

"We are committed to non-interference in Afghanistan and expect all other states to strictly adhere to this principle," Abdul Basit told the BBC.

A Pentagon spokesman said the U.S. Defense Department has not yet seen the report but said there has long been concern about ties between Pakistan's intelligence service and some extremist networks, the BBC reported.

Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said the document was "a classified internal document that is not meant to be released to the public." the BBC reported.

Cummings said the report "aggregates the comments of Taliban detainees in a captive environment without considering the validity of or motivation behind their reflections," The New York Times reported. "Any conclusions drawn from this would be questionable at best," Cummings said.

The report, called the State of the Taliban, was obtained by the BBC and The Times of London.

"It is important not to draw conclusions based on Taliban comments or musings. These detainees include some of the most motivated and ruthless of the insurgents who are inspired to play up their success," Cummings was quoted as saying by The New York Times. "It is what they want us to believe they think."