Pakistani intelligence officials have reportedly arrested five people accused of providing the Central Intelligence Agency with information that helped lead to the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.
American officials told the New York Times that the arrests by Pakistan’s top military spy agency included a Pakistani Army major who allegedly copied the license plates of cars visiting Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, 30 miles from the capital, Islamabad.
U.S. forces killed the Al Qaeda leader during a raid on his compound May 2.
The arrests are the latest sign of the growing mistrust in the relationship between the United States and its ally Pakistan.
“Some in Washington see the arrests as illustrative of the disconnect between Pakistani and American priorities at a time when they are supposed to be allies in the fight against Al Qaeda — instead of hunting down the support network that allowed Bin Laden to live comfortably for years, the Pakistani authorities are arresting those who assisted in the raid that killed the world’s most wanted man,” the Times states.
The bin Laden raid, which was seen as a “blow to the prestige of the country’s military,” put more strain on the Pakistan-U.S. relationship, Al Jazeera reports.
The United States did not inform Pakistan of the bin Laden raid leading up to it, triggering anger from Pakistani officials who accused the United States of violating their sovereignty.
The presence of bin Laden in Abbottabad as well as the raid also embarrassed Pakistan’s armed forces and led to questions of Pakistan’s complicity or sheer incompetence.
The fate of those arrested in Pakistan is unclear, the New York Times reports.
