NEW YORK, Feb 25: US officials are quietly planning to expand their presence in and around the tribal areas of Pakistan by creating special coordination centres on the Afghan side of the border where US, Afghan, and Pakistani officials can share intelligence about Al Qaeda and Taliban militants, the Boston Globe reported on Monday, citing State Department and Pentagon officials.

The Bush administration, the Globe says, is also seeking to expand its influence in the tribal areas through a new economic support initiative that would initially focus on school and road construction projects. Officials recently asked Congress for $453 million to launch the effort — a higher request for economic support funds than for any country except Afghanistan.

The expansion of US efforts in the tribal areas — made possible, in part, by rising Pakistani anger at a string of suicide attacks by militants from the region — also includes the deployment of about 30 US counter-insurgency trainers to train an elite Pakistani force to fight Al Qaeda and indigenous extremists.

The CIA was also pushing to enhance its surveillance capabilities and intelligence cooperation with the Pakistani services at a covert location in the tribal areas, the newspaper said quoting to a Pakistani official in the tribal areas who asked not to be identified.

“In order to get a window on what’s happening on the ground, US forces need to be more present, whether they are physically there, or virtually there, monitoring,” Daniel Markey, a Pakistan specialist on the State Department’s policy planning staff from 2003 until his retirement last year told the newspaper.

To get a better picture of the complex insurgency that has grown in the tribal areas over the past five years, US officials are constructing two new coordination centres on the Afghan side of the border at Torkham and at a second position north of Torkham. Four more posts are under consideration, the newspaper said quoting a senior Defence Department official.

According to the plans, the official told the Globe, about 15 Afghan, Pakistani, and American officials would meet daily at each centre to share intelligence about militant activities on both sides of the porous, mountainous border, which extends about 1,560 miles between Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal areas.

“The purpose of the centres is to share intelligence, ensure that all (parties) have a common operational picture of the area, coordinate operations that might be occurring on both sides of the border at the same time, and (settle conflicts) when necessary,” said the Defence Department official.