WASHINGTON, Dec 12: With the crumbling of Taliban and Al Qaeda resistance and amidst heightened surveillance of Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan, the US military is reported to be examining potential escape routes over the mountains and is thought to have moved unmanned aircraft and other reconnaissance equipment and personnel into the area.

These additional steps have apparently been taken to complement the measures already in force on the Pakistan side, including the unprecedented induction of a fairly large body of Pakistani troops in the Tribal Areas close to Tora Bora, which remains the focus of the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

These initiatives reflect US concern that Al Qaeda fighters will continue to attempt to go into Pakistan and the non-Pakistanis among them, who are more hardened of the group’s members, will then try to make their way to their home countries.

Whether US personnel have joined or will join Pakistani troops in hunting fleeing fighters remains unclear. The Pentagon has repeatedly said the United States seeks custody of all top Qaeda men, although it may be content to leave surrendering Taliban in the hands of Afghan groups.

State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said on Tuesday that all Taliban captured to date were prisoners of the Afghan groups and these groups as well as the leader of the interim administration, Mr Hamid Karzai, had assured Washington that the captives would face justice. However, Mr Reeker said, discussions with regard to cases of the arrested individuals were continuing.

According to a report in The Washington Post on Wednesday, Pakistan has not asked for Pakistani nationals detained in Afghanistan to be repatriated, but is said to have approached the International Committee of the Red Cross to inquire into the conditions in which they are being held. The exact number of Pakistanis held in Afghanistan is not known.