WASHINGTON, Nov 20: Christina Rocca, US assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, on Wednesday refused to say publicly whether Pakistan had purged pro-Taliban elements out of its intelligence services.

Accusations about the involvement of ISI with the Taliban were raised at a hearing of the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, with several lawmakers asking US administration officials whether Pakistan was still supporting the remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Administration officials, who appeared as state witnesses at the hearing, backed Pakistan’s claim that it was doing all it could to stop cross-border movement of the Taliban into Afghanistan, but remained silent on the allegation against the ISI.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida who chaired the meeting, also expressed apprehensions about madressahs in Pakistan and Afghanistan which, she alleged, played a key role in providing volunteers for the Taliban.

But it was Congressman Brad Sherman, a Democrat from California, who raised questions about the ISI twice at the hearing, once while referring to a recent story in the Washington Post and again during a discussion about the resurgence of the Taliban.

“There’s a substantial support for the Taliban ideology in the ISI. Have the supporters of that ideology in that intelligence service been removed or converted,” he asked of Christina Rocca.

The top US policymaker for South Asia first tried to evade the question and instead spoke of joint US and Pakistani operations against the Taliban in the tribal areas.

When Mr Sherman insisted on a direct answer about the presence of Taliban sympathizers in the ISI, Ms Rocca said she was unable to disclose her views on the issue.

“There are a number of answers to that, some of which I couldn’t answer in this forum,” she added.