(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-11-20 09:31

WASHINGTONH -- A new classified US military proposal outlines an intensified effort to enlist tribal leaders in the frontier areas of Pakistan in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban, the New York Times reported Monday.

Pakistan's tribal elders in Mohmand Agency, a town bordering Afghanistan, October 2007. [Agencies]

It was said to be part of a broader effort to bolster Pakistani forces against an expanding militancy, according to the paper.

If adopted, the proposal would join elements of a shift in strategy that would also be likely to expand the presence of US military trainers in Pakistan, directly finance a separate tribal paramilitary force that until now has proved largely ineffective, and pay militias that agreed to fight al-Qaida and foreign extremists, it said.

The United States has only about 50 troops in Pakistan, a Pentagon spokesman said, a force that could grow by dozens under the new approach.

The new proposal is modeled in part on a similar effort by US forces in Anbar Province in Iraq that has been hailed as a great success in fighting foreign insurgents there.

But it raises the question of whether such partnerships can be forged without a significant US military presence on the ground in Pakistan.

And it is unclear whether enough support can be found among the tribes.