President George W Bush allowed US military special forces to mount ground attacks inside Pakistan against terrorist and Afghan insurgent targets, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

The orders were given in July, the newspaper reported, citing senior US officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

The orders expand existing US policy to carry out airstrikes inside Pakistan using unmanned drone aircraft against targets of al- Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden.

Al-Qaeda and the allied Taliban - the ousted Afghan militant regime that continues to mount an insurgent campaign - have continued to operate from safe havens inside Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

The Times quoted one US official as calling conditions in Pakistan's tribal areas "not tolerable."

Navy commandos conducted a ground raid last week inside Pakistan without seeking permission and notifying the US ally only after the incursion.