"The training effort with the Pakistan Frontier Corps is not a secret. We've talked about it on the record for several months," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told media persons in Washington.

The Pentagon's remarks comes a day after the New York Times reported that more than 70 US military advisers, mostly special forces personnel, are secretly working in Pakistan to help its armed forces battle the Al-Qaeda [Images] and the Taliban [Images] in the country's lawless tribal areas.

However, the Pentagon spokesman refused to comment on the composition of the US forces training the Pakistan Army [Images], which according to the paper is done by US Army Special Forces.

"We've never really talked about the composition of the US military team," Whitman said.