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Pakistan detains al Qaeda, Taliban suspects

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistani paramilitary forces, along with local tribal scouts, have rounded up 25 suspected al Qaeda and Taliban members from the town of Wana in the Northwest Frontier province, according to tribal sources.

While U.S. and allied forces have been searching for remaining al Qaeda and Taliban fighters on Afghanistan's side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border for months, cooperation by tribal chiefs in Pakistan is a new development. Pakistan's military has little presence in the area.

Paramilitary forces also have taken up positions in nearby Miranshah, saying additional searches are likely for other al Qaeda and Taliban members hiding out in the tribal areas along the border, the sources said

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On Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed appreciation for Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's help.

"We have been very pleased with the cooperation President Musharraf has provided the United States with respect to the war on terrorism in many, many facets and respects, almost from Day One," Rumsfeld said.

He said the Pakistani government is working out ways to deal with tribal organizations so pockets of Taliban members can be "routed out," noting that pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda members are hiding across most borders of Afghanistan.