AFP - The Afghan, Pakistan and Nato militaries in Afghanistan formally opened their first joint intelligence sharing centre yesterday to boost co-operation against Taliban and other extremists.

The commander of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David Richards, said the launch of the Joint Intelligence Operations Centre (JIOC) was "a historic day ... in the war on terror and against the insurgents".

Already "there is a great deal of close co-operation that goes on a daily basis that you don't even know about," he told reporters outside the centre, which is in the heart of the ISAF headquarters in Kabul.
"We have a very open relationship - the three armies. We share a lot of intelligence all the time that you wouldn't even understand ... that will continue with renewed energy."

The centre is staffed by six intelligence and operational officers from each of the Afghan and Pakistani armies and 12 ISAF staff.

It builds on intelligence-sharing between commanders of the three militaries who already meet every two months in a Tripartite Commission.

The centre's establishment comes amid growing tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the Taliban-led insurgency, which has grown steadily stronger since its launch after the hardliners' rout from government in 2001.

Afghanistan has been joined by Western sources in saying elements in Pakistan, including in its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, are backing the insurgency, which was its bloodiest last year with 4,000 dead - most of them rebel fighters.

President Pervez Musharraf has angrily rejected those accusations and claims that extremists, including Al Qaeda, have sanctuaries in his country. "I take extremely strong exception to anybody (accusing) ... any government agency of Pakistan of co-operating with these extremist forces and sending them into Afghanistan," Musharraf said on Wednesday.

Richards would not be drawn into the bickering between the Islamic neighbours but said both were committed to defeating their common enemy, which is operating on both sides of the border. "We have to come together to find a better way to achieve that joint objective," he said.

Intelligence sharing had already delivered "powerful blows" to the insurgents in the past weeks, Nato spokesman Mark Laity said. Richards has already told media that Pakistan played a key role in the December 19 killing of top Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohamed Osmani.

Pakistan authorities had told the Afghan side that Osmani, described as a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was heading across the border after his two brothers were arrested.

He was killed in a US airstrike, becoming the highest-ranked Taliban leader the coalition has killed since US forces deployed to Afghanistan to topple the hardline regime in 2001. ISAF spokesman Brigadier Richard Nugee said Pakistan's participation in the JIOC was a "public announcement" of its commitment against the insurgency.