Pakistan has told Britain to withdraw some of its military trainers, in what appears to be the latest sign of strained relations with the West after last month's killing of Osama bin Laden by US troops.
Pakistan's military faces its most severe crisis in decades following the May 2nd raid in which the al-Qaeda leader was killed on Pakistani soil.
"The UK has been asked to withdraw some of its training support teams on a temporary basis by the Pakistani government in response to security concerns," British high commission spokesman in Islamabad, George Sheriff, confirmed today.
He said the Pakistan authorities had warned about "security concerns" but he did not elaborate.
The Guardian newspaper quoted the British defence ministry as confirming the withdrawal of at least 18 military advisers who were helping train a poorly equipped paramilitary force, the frontier corps, in counter-terrorism.
Since the May 2nd raid, Pakistan has been keen to demonstrate its independence from its Western sponsors and has also dramatically scaled back the number of military trainers from its main backer, the United States.
The number of US trainers has been reduced to less than 50 from about 120.
The reductions are a signs of a strained alliance that Washington still sees as critical to its success in the war in neighbouring Afghanistan as well as the fight against al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, 50km northwest of Islamabad, intensified US questions about Pakistan's possible role in sheltering militants.
The army still enjoys high approval ratings in Pakistan, but its critics blame it for cultivating Islamist militants in the past for use against arch-rival India, who are now increasingly slipping out of its control and turning on Pakistani authorities.
The British trainers had been based near Quetta in Baluchistan at a British-funded base, working alongside six American advisers training batches of 360 recruits in 12-week courses.
Reuters