LOS ANGELES - CIA Director Leon Panetta said on Monday that the United States does not know the location of all of Pakistan's nuclear weapons but is confident the country has them secure.

Mr Panetta spoke days after the top US military officer told Congress there is evidence Pakistan is adding to its nuclear weapons systems and warheads. Pakistan, however, denies it.

The CIA director was asked about Pakistan's nuclear program at a forum organized by the Pacific Council on International Policy.

'We don't have, frankly, the intelligence to know where they all are located,' Mr Panetta said, adding the US is confident the Pakistani government has a 'pretty secure approach to try to protect these weapons.'

That security is something the US is watching, he said. 'The last thing we want is to have the Talrban have access to nuclear weapons in Pakistan.'

At a congressional hearing last week, Adm Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked whether there was evidence that Pakistan was adding to its nuclear arsenal.

He replied: 'Yes.' Pakistan is battling a growing Islamic insurgency with links to Al-Qaeda and the Taleban, and Washington is considering giving the government billions of dollars in aid to fight it.

Adm Mullen said in Washington on Monday that the US has focused some aid in recent years on improving the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons, and the country has used it for that purpose.

Pakistan is thought to possess more than 60 nuclear weapons under a programme that began when its rival, India, started producing them. -- AP