Washington: Top US military officials are closely monitoring the escalating tension in Pakistan's restive Swat and Waziristan region to take decision about the kind of assistance to be provided to Islamabad for counter-insurgency operations.

"As they (Pakistan) start to come out of these areas, like Swat and like the northern areas, Waziristan, it's a different threat. Is it a threat that the Pakistan are ready to handle? Do they need help? Do they need training help? Do they need other types of help? That's what we are trying to assess right now," General James Cartwright, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

"We are assessing what value we could have or any other ally could have in contributing to their security, but they are a sovereign nation. They have to make those decisions and we will stand by and be available," he added.

The Pentagon also concluded that any decision in this regard will be taken keeping in mind that the Pakistan government is confronting a problem that has come to the fore recently. "... You have to look at the realities of the situation. This is a relatively late breaking event," Defence Secretary Robert Gates said at a briefing.

Source : PTI