Islamabad, Pakistan ? Pakistani troops backed by helicopters launched an offensive Thursday to capture suspected al-Qaida fugitives hiding in the mountains along the Afghan border, believed to be a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden.

The operations follow a bloody series of attacks this week in Afghanistan suspected of being carried out by Taliban and possibly al-Qaida fighters, amid new calls by bin Laden in his latest taped message for Muslims to attack U.S. forces and their allies.

Gen. Shaukat Sultan, spokesman for Pakistan’s army, would not say whether the operation under way in Wana, just across the border from Afghanistan’s Paktika province, was launched to capture bin Laden or any other al-Qaida leader.

“I will not make any comment about it,” Sultan said. “This operation is part of our campaign in the war on terror. So far, no foreigner has been arrested, but we are questioning some local tribesmen.”

The U.S. military in Afghanistan declined to comment on whether the Saudi-born bin Laden might be in the area targeted by the Pakistani operation but noted U.S. troops had not stepped up operations on the Afghan side of the border.

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was pleased the Pakistani army “began operations this morning that relate to that challenge” of combating terrorism.