WASHINGTON, July 12 Lashkar-e Taiba is sending operatives into the Nangarhar province to join Taliban insurgents fighting US and Afghan forces, says the US Department of Defence.

A Pentagon report from Afghanistan quotes International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) officials as saying that on July 3 they captured a Taliban commander, a Taliban facilitator, and two fighters during a raid in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

Backing the Isaf press release, the Pentagon noted the captured commander was linked to the overall Taliban leader of Khugyani district and “associated with the recent influx of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives into the province”.

The Pentagon then identified LeT as “the Pakistani-based terrorist organisation responsible for the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India”.

The US media noted that within the past several days, the US military has begun to publicly identify the LeT and other foreign fighters based in Pakistan, as well as a Pakistani Taliban group, as constituting direct threats to coalition and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Official press releases from the US-led Isaf and other Department of Defence outlets published on US military websites are starting to mention specific links between insurgents in Afghanistan and those in Pakistan.

On July 7, Isaf reported the capture of another Taliban commander tied to Lashkar-e-Taiba operations in Khugyani district in the Nangarhar province. “The commander had direct contact with a Taliban commander detained by the security forces on July 3,” the press release said. “He was also directly linked to the overall Taliban emir of Khugyani district and associated with the recent influx of Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives into the province.”

Just one day after the US military issued its latest press release on the Lashkar-e-Taiba; it issued another unprecedented press release, this time mentioning a Taliban commander in the Ghazni province linked to Pakistani, Arab and Chechen fighters.

“An Afghan-international security force detained two suspected insurgents in the Ghazni province this morning while pursuing a Taliban commander who is responsible for smuggling Pakistani, Chechen and Arab fighters and improvised explosive device materials into Shah Joy district from Pakistan,” Isaf stated in a press release.

On Sunday, the US military issued another press release linking Taliban fighters to Al Qaeda and a Pakistani Taliban leader.

“An Afghan and international security force killed several insurgents and detained two suspected insurgents in Ghazni province yesterday while pursuing a Taliban commander in direct contact with Taliban leadership in Pakistan and associated with Al Qaeda and Commander Nazir Group,” the press release said.

Commander Nazir is identified as Mullah Nazir, the leader of the Wazir Taliban in South Waziristan. He does not support attacks against the Pakistani state but backs terror groups that do, including the TTP.

The US military had never mentioned Mullah Nazir before in any of its press releases on Afghanistan.