Pakistan Helped Taliban Plan Afghan Attacks: Report

Pakistani spies armed Taliban insurgents in 2005 assassination plots against the Afghan government, Cadena Ser radio reports after obtaining a confidential Spanish defense document. Bearing the defense ministry’s seal, the report alleges that Pakistan’s intelligence gave the militants roadside bombs, and may have also provided intelligence and training. Cadena Ser does not say how it obtained the documents.

Western intelligence officials have long suspected ISI-Taliban cooperation, but this is the first official document to surface spelling out that connection. The document doesn’t, however, provide evidence or name sources. One Pakistani army spokesman told the AP it is “baseless, unfounded and part of a malicious, well-orchestrated propaganda campaign to malign the ISI.” (More Pakistan stories.)