Pakistani officials have freed at least two recently captured senior members of the Afghanistan Taliban without telling the United States, according to a report.

The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence directorate sprung the unnamed high-ranking terrorists at the same time they caught the Afghanistan Taliban's second in command, the Washington Post reported on its Web site last night.

American intelligence officials noticed the move during their routine monitoring of the ISI, the paper said.

The clandestine act occurred in January or February, around the same time Pakistani officials worked with the CIA on a series of raids capturing Taliban "shadow governors" in Afghanistan.

Despite the increased cooperation between the two nations' intelligence agencies, the back-stabbing move shows that there are still rogue elements in Pakistan that are seeking to maintain relations with the Taliban under the belief America may suddenly leave the region, US officials told the newspaper.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/pak_frees_taliban_chieftains_WSdQ2JRGnhPKMdEDs7p3MI#ixzz0ksbQSJ0Y