Five CIA informants who led US intelligence to Usama bin Laden's lair in Pakistan have been arrested by Pakistani security forces, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Those detained include a Pakistani army major who provided key details of cars visiting the bin Laden compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad in the lead-up to the May raid by US Navy SEALS which ended in the al Qaeda figurehead's death.
The Times cited the arrests as further evidence of the troubled nature of the US-Pakistan relationship in the struggle against terrorism.
Tensions have increased since the bin Laden raid, which left Pakistani security embarrassed and prompted questions about how the terror chief could have been based in a key military town without senior officials knowing.
US drone strikes on Pakistani Taliban hideouts have been another area of friction, with a strong degree of public opposition in Pakistan.
It is unclear what happened to the informants after their arrests, although the newspaper said the issue of their detention was raised by CIA director Leon Panetta on a visit to counterparts in Pakistan last week.
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