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News reports quoting U.S. officials say covert U.S. Special Forces units are conducting reconnaissance missions in Pakistan's northern border area, searching for al-Qaida and Taleban fighters believed hiding there.

The officials say they believe the al-Qaida and Taleban fighters are trying to regroup in the rough, tribal areas after being driven from hideouts in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia and Paktika provinces. The officials say the U.S. troops have not engaged in combat on the Pakistani side of the border.

Reacting to a report in The Washington Post newspaper, a Pakistani government spokesman said he had no knowledge of U.S. troops operating in Pakistan.

The U.S. officials say the issue of U.S. troops operating in Pakistan is highly sensitive, especially with President Pervez Musharraf facing a referendum on Tuesday in a bid to remain in power for five more years.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on his way to Afghanistan and nearby Central Asian countries to assess the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke says the trip - Mr. Rumsfeld's fourth to the region - will allow him to meet with some of the more than six thousand U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan.

She also says the defense secretary will visit other unspecified countries in the region to thank officials for their support of the war against terrorists.

Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.