WASHINGTON
The US is trying to expand a secret CIA operation designed to eliminate militant havens in the Tribal Areas along the Afghan border, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.
Citing unnamed senior officials, the newspaper said the Obama administration had asked Pakistan in recent weeks to allow additional CIA officers and special operations military trainers to enter the country to intensify pressure on the Taliban.
The requests have so far been rebuffed by Islamabad, which remains extremely reluctant to allow a larger US ground presence in Pakistan, the report said. The number of CIA personnel in Pakistan has grown substantially in recent years, the Journal said, but the exact number was highly classified.
