DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan: A senior Taleban militant captured by US forces in Afghanistan last year was secretly flown to Pakistan this past week, two senior security officials said on Sunday, potentially paving the way to other high profile prisoner exchanges.

The US is searching for ways to help foster slowly warming relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, seen as key to defeating the Taleban after NATO forces complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan this month.

Strained relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan improved slightly after new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani got a warm welcome from Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during a state visit last month.

Relations between the two neighbors were rocky because each accuses suspects the other of harboring Taleban insurgents. The Afghan and Pakistani Taleban are separate but allied and both work alongside Al-Qaeda.

This weekend, two Al-Qaeda leaders were reported killed in Pakistan, one by Pakistani forces and one by a US drone strike.

US drone strikes against Pakistani Taleban forces in Afghanistan have also stepped up in recent weeks, the Taleban say, with another strike in Kunar province on Saturday.

In the latest development, Latif Mehsud, the former number two commander in the Pakistani Taleban, was secretly flown to Pakistan on Dec. 5, two security officials said. He was arrested by US troops in Afghanistan last year. High profile prisoner exchanges could smooth the way to peace talks between the Taleban and the Afghan government.

“TTP senior commander Latif Mehsud who was arrested was handed over to Pakistani authorities along with his guards,” one Pakistani security official said. “They reached Islamabad.” US officials declined to comment.