ISLAMABAD, July 6: A Surveillance and Detection Unit (SDU) backed by the US State Department has been operating in the Capital for nearly four years with a team of local staff supervised by a US official, sources told Dawn.

The sources said that the US mission opened this small unit with the basic objective to roam about close to the mission and residence of the US diplomats. "They are on the look out for suspicious people or unusual activities close to their premises and check routes which US diplomats take to reach their work places and back home.

Rawalpindi, G-9, Aabpara are all off limits for US citizens stationed in Islamabad," the sources said. Nonetheless, they said, this team is always seen in and close to the protest rallies, religious as well as political.

The team members are seen equipped with sophisticated hi-tech gadetary to take pictures, record speeches, take down names of speakers, and measure the size of the rallies etc. Reporting on religious mosques and schools is also part of their task," they said.

The office of the SDU is at a stone's throw from the Diplomatic Enclave and is headed by the Regional Security Officer (RSO). "The RSO for Pakistan has two Deputy RSOs working under him and there are one to five Assistant RSOs lower down the chain of command," the sources said.

A field team made up of local boys operates under the RSOs. This team is headed by an ex-army captain who reports to the RSO directly and has about two to three shift supervisors who are in the streets round the clock and paid well for their assigned task.

When asked about the existence or otherwise of such a unit, the US Mission spokesman, Steve Lebens said, "I have no information about that." Responding to another question, if the US Embassy shared intelligence collected through the SDU with the ISI or other security agencies, Mr Lebens said, "The US never shares its intelligence with any of the local security agencies."

When asked if the US had obtained Pakistan's permission to set up the SDU, the ISPR director-general, Major General Shaukat Sultan said, "ISPR has no knowledge of such a unit and the Foreign Office would be able to inform you better."

The Foreign Office spokesperson, Masood Khan said, "The information is not true but you should ask the interior ministry." Brig Javed Iqbal Cheema, Director-General National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC), ministry of interior, when contacted, said, "Every embassy has its own security staff but these are always stationed within the walls of the embassy. Security outside their embassy is the government's responsibility."