NEW YORK - Pakistani military and intelligence officers are aiding American missile attacks against militants and have given "significant" support to recent U.S. missions, The Wall Street Journal claimed Wednesday, citing officials from both countries. But in public, the newspaper pointed out Pakistan's leaders denounce the US military strikes as an attack on the country's sovereignty. "(W)ith the Taliban pushing deeper into the country, Pakistan's civilian and military leaders, while publicly condemning the attacks, have come to see the strikes as effective and are passing on intelligence that has helped recent missions," the Journal said in a joint dispatch written by its correspondents in Islamabad and Washington. As a result, "the Predator strikes are more and more precise," an unnamed Pakistani official was quoted as saying. Eleven of al Qaeda's top 20 commanders have been killed or captured since August because of the Predator missions conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency, the paper said citing the Pakistani official, and current and former U.S. intelligence officials. Dennis Blair, the new U.S. director of national intelligence, said last week that "a succession of blows" to al Qaeda in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas have thrown the group off balance, forcing it to promote inexperienced operators to leadership posts. GEN. ABBAS Meanwhile, Maj. Gen Akhtar Abbas, head of the Inter-services Public Relations, said Pakistan and the U.S. "have a long history of military cooperation and intelligence sharing." But he said it doesn't include the missiles strikes. "We have made our opposition clear," he said. "The strikes are counterproductive." But the Journal claims that other Pakistani officials say there has been a shift in Pakistan's private response to U.S. insistence the strikes go ahead. Initially, Pakistani complaints were genuine, these officials say, and reflected widespread discontent with the U.S.-led war on terror. But after Pakistan's complaints were repeatedly rebuffed by the U.S. and with the Taliban making gains against the Pakistani military and the police, these officials say President Asif Ali Zardari and top military leaders decided in recent months to aid the American effort in the hopes it will help them regain control over the tribal areas. "The cooperation also could prove as a counterbalance to U.S. displeasure over a peace deal announced Monday with a Taliban faction in Swat Valley," the newspaper said. The protests are "really for the sake of public opinion," a Pakistani official was quoted as saying. "These operations are helping both sides. We are partners on this." A former U.S. intelligence official said cooperation has always been strong between the two countries' intelligence services. "There's always been a double game," the former official said. "There's the game they'll play out in public [but] there has always been good cooperation."