By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
U.S. forces have handed over three Pakistani prisoners, including a former deputy chief of Pakistani Taliban, to Islamabad - a move seen as a note of confidence by the Obama administration - U.S. officials said on Sunday.
The prisoners - Latifullah Mehsud, Jaffar and Aziz Arafat - were handed over to Pakistani authorities on Saturday, a statement issued by U.S. forces in Afghanistan said.
The move also comes as the U.S. will no longer be able to detain prisoners in Afghanistan by the end of the year.
The decision, the statement said, was taken without consulting the Afghan government.
The prisoners are members of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella network of Taliban militants, which is on the run due to an ongoing military onslaught in the restive North Waziristan region.
A senior Pakistani military official on condition of anonymity confirmed the handing over of Latifullah Mehsud, who was the deputy of slain al-Qaeda chief Hakeemullah Mehsud, killed in November 2013 in a U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan.
Security analysts see the move as a sign of improving cooperation between Washington and Islamabad vis-a-vis the war on terror.
Hamid Mir, an Islamabad-based security analyst, said it was the result of the recent visit of Army chief general Raheel Sharif to Washington.
"The Pakistani army is already acting against Taliban and al-Qaeda in North Waziristan and other tribal areas, which has been praised by top U.S. military officials," Mir said.
The Pakistani army killed a top al-Qaeda commander Adnan Al Shukri Juma in a raid in South Waziristan.
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