As Islamabad works to minimise the presence of US intelligence operatives in Pakistan, the US has started hiring locals to do the job for them, intelligence reports said.
“The US is hiring local people. They are paying them to spy for them,” a senior government official told this newspaper citing intelligence reports. The relations between Pakistan and the US touched a new low when a CIA official, Raymond Davis, was arrested in Lahore in January on murder charges. He was released on the payment of diyat (blood money).
“The US is using local influential people for spying services. They are paying them huge money and they use their own resources to keep the US authorities updated,” said the official. He said the Americans have increased their contacts with influential locals in south Punjab to establish a spy network there.
The US and other Western countries believe the Taliban have a large following in south Punjab and several militants from the tribal areas have also taken refuge in Punjab province.
Pakistan recently refused permission to the United States to establish a consulate in Multan, near the purported stronghold of the Taliban. A similar request to open a consulate in Quetta was also denied.