The US military is planning to set up new training centres inside Pakistan where American special operations trainers would work with Pakistani forces close to the Afghan border battle zone, a senior defence official said.

The new centres would supplement two already operating in Pakistan, and they would be used to accelerate and expand the training of Pakistani forces considered key to rooting out Al Qaeda leaders hiding along the mountainous border, the official said.

Increased numbers: Staffing the new centres would require an increase in the more than 100 US special operations forces in Pakistan, but Pentagon officials do not yet know how much of a boost would be needed, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

US officials see their effort to train Pakistan’s forces, which includes the country’s paramilitary Frontier Corps, its Special Service Group commandos and its Army, as a growing success.

Welcomed by Islamabad, the training has helped repair America’s fragile relationship with the Pakistanis, while also giving elite US special operations forces better access to the rugged border region dominated by Al Qaeda and its militant allies.

At the same time, the small but growing numbers of American troops inside Pakistan have also become targets. Last week, three US special operations soldiers participating in a low-profile programme were killed and two others wounded by a roadside bomb. Military aid to Pakistan is considered key to winning the Afghan war and the ongoing fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.