The report identified the ‘big three’, as Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The Post said that the US Special Operation Forces had already established ground teams near the Pakistani border in Afghanistan who would move into Pakistan if they had ‘conclusive’ evidence of the presence of any of the three big extremist leaders in a particular area.

The report noted that all three were thought to be hiding in Pakistan.

Last summer, the Bush administration authorised covert US ground raids inside Pakistan, but Pakistani outrage after a single attack in September led to their suspension.

Although US Special Operations Forces’ teams are on continuous alert on the Afghan side of the border, the Obama administration has not authorised any ground operations in Pakistan.

Instead, the administration is depending heavily on unmanned drone attacks to hit high-value targets inside Pakistan.

The officials believe that this provides them with better opportunities to target Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders.

The Post, however, noted that it was still unclear whether US intelligence and Pakistani ground forces could capitalise on such opportunities before they vanished.

US and Pakistani officials who spoke to the Post conceded that chances to intercept substantive Al Qaeda communications or to take advantage of the movement of individuals were ‘always fleeting’.