ISLAMABAD - A leaked NATO report includes claims that the Taliban is poised to reclaim control of Afghanistan despite a decade-long effort by Western forces to defeat the Islamic militants, and asserts that the Taliban continues to work closely with Pakistan's spy service, British news organizations reported.
The classified report's authenticity was confirmed Wednesday by spokesmen for NATO-led forces in Kabul. But the military officials cautioned that the document — said to be based on 27,000 separate interrogations of 4,000 captured insurgents — is essentially a summary of what the detainees said, not a corroboration of their views.

The two countries are allies but their relationship has been plagued by mistrust over the last 50 years.
"It's not an analysis, nor is it meant to be considered an analysis," Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force [ISAF], told Reuters.

The BBC and Britain's The Times newspaper, both of which obtained the report, said it restated long-standing U.S. allegations that Pakistan plays a "double-game," supporting the Taliban's war across the border even while trying to quell its own Islamist insurgency.

"Pakistan's manipulation of the Taliban senior leadership continues unabatedly," the BBC quoted the report as saying. The document reportedly asserts that Pakistan's spy service (known as the ISI) monitors the whereabouts of all senior Taliban leaders and also directs attacks against NATO forces.

"Senior Taliban leaders meet regularly with ISI personnel, who advise on strategy and relay any pertinent concerns of the government of Pakistan," the report said. It also alleged that Islamabad is "intimately involved" with the effort to topple the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Compiled by the U.S. military at Bagram air base, the classified report was given to NATO officers last month, The Times reported.
Neither ISI nor Pakistan army officials would comment Wednesday, but a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abdul Basit, called the report "frivolous, to put it mildly."

"We are committed to non-interference in Afghanistan," Basit said in a statement. "Pakistan has suffered enormously because of the long conflict in Afghanistan. A stable and peaceful Afghanistan is in our own interest."
According to the BBC, the report quotes a senior al-Qaeda detainee as saying: "Pakistan knows everything. They control everything. I can't [expletive] on a tree in Kunar without them watching."
"The Taliban are not Islam," the detainee reportedly continued. "The Taliban are Islamabad."

The report suggests that the insurgents have gained support among the Afghan people and are biding their time until the announced pullout of coalition forces in 2014.
"Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban," The Times quoted the report as saying. "Once ISAF is no longer a factor, Taliban consider their victory inevitable."

But in one of its tweets, ISAF portrayed this claim as wishful boasting by enemy combatants. "Keep in mind [insurgents are] often inspired to play up their success, support, and morale," it said.
The report made for embarrassing headlines around the globe as diplomats are attempting to shape a postwar reconciliation plan for Afghanistan. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar was in Kabul on Wednesday to meet with Karzai and discuss possible peace talks with the Taliban.

Ayaz Amir, who sits on the Pakistan parliament's committees on defense and foreign affairs, said he considered the U.S. military report nothing more than a "repeat of past claims."
He added, "This blame game must come to an end now, and all the partners in this counterterrorism campaign should work together, trust each other and fight this menace."
Special correspondent Shaiq Hussain contributed to this report. (Agencies)