Washington, Nov.26: U.S. efforts to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces along the Afghan border could come unstuck if there is no end in sight to the ongoing political upheaval in Pakistan, an intelligence report published in the US media has claimed.

According to a U.S. National Security Council report, both the Taliban and Al Qaeda maintain headquarters, logistical support and training camps in the tribal belt along the Afghan border, which increases U.S. concerns about the possible repercussions of the current political impasse in Pakistan.

However, the report acknowledges that it is still too early to predict whether the situation in Pakistan will go out of control.

The Dawn quotes the Washington Post as saying that the White House believes that the war on terror in Afghanistan has not met strategic goals set this year.

The main conclusion of the report, prepared earlier this month, is that while individual military battles against the Taliban have been successful, other areas remain wanting.

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates is quoted as saying that the US Special Operations Command has been lobbying for a more active role along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Several experts believe that the United States can no longer afford to leave the Pakistani military to clean up its side of the border.

"Unless we resolve the safe-haven issue, this is not going to succeed," the papers quotes Henry A. Crumpton, a CIA veteran who led the agency's successful 2001 Afghanistan campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda,” as saying.

The White House report also notes that many foreigners, mostly Pakistani, join the Taliban, but the main source of new recruits remain unhappy Afghans. (ANI)