Washington: Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI (Inter Service Intelligence) is sheltering Taleban fighters along the Pak-Afghan border and undermining the stability of Afghanistan, two senior members of US Senate Foreign Relations Committee have said.

The senators- Richard G Lugar, Republican of Indiana and Joseph R Biden Jr, Democrat of Delaware- said there was evidence that the ISI might be helping the Taleban and al- Qaida operatives to infiltrate into Afghanistan.

"ISI is once again either turning a blind eye to or cooperating with" Pashtun groups opposed to the Afghan government led by President Hamid Karzai, said Biden, the Committee's top ranking diplomat, during a hearing on the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

However, the senators said they did not believe that President Pervez Musharraf was involved in the destabilising activities, the 'New York Times' reported.

The ISI elements which supported the Taleban in the 1990's appeared to be trying to gain influence in Afghanistan by allowing Taleban fighters to infiltrate across the border, where they have been attacking Afghan and American soldiers, Lugar, the Committee's chairman, said.

"This is international politics impinging on a small country," Lugar said.

Meanwhile, responding to the senators concerns, senior US administration officials said they thought the situation was not as dangerous as Lugar and Biden suggested.

Peter Rodman, Asst Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs, however, acknowledged that, "neighbouring countries would like to have a hand in it".

PTI