Pakistan and Afghanistan sign intelligence-sharing deal: Official

The intelligence services of Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to share intelligence and coordinate operations against Taliban militants, a Pakistani military spokesman said today.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), Pakistan army spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said on Twitter.

The agreement "includes international sharing, complimentary and coordinated intelligence operations on respective sides", Bajwa said.

It was not immediately clear when and where the MoU was signed.

Pakistan has a civilian government but the military and ISI still wield great influence, particularly over policy towards neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged support to Afghanistan in its fight against the Taliban during a visit to Kabul last week, the latest sign of a thaw in the two countries' once-frosty relationship.

Sharif's visit to Kabul, his first since President Ashraf Ghani came to power in September, came as concerns grow over an upsurge in Taliban-led violence in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials have frequently accused Pakistan of harbouring and nurturing Taliban insurgents, who are waging a 13-year war against local and foreign troops in the country.

But Ghani has actively courted Pakistan, which has been accused of secretly backing the Taliban, since coming to power in what observers say is a calculated gambit to pressure the insurgents to the negotiating table.