ABU DHABI Ñ Kuwait has launched cooperation efforts to prevent the flight of Al Qaida insurgents from Afghanistan.

Gulf diplomatic sources said the sheikdom has increased coastal patrols to stop the infiltration of combatants from Al Qaida or Taliban into the region. They said the operation was taken in cooperation with the United States.

Kuwaiti officials have reported success in the effort. They said an undetermined number of insurgents from Afghanistan have been captured. They said the insurgents fled from Afghanistan to Iran. From the port of Bandar Abbas, the insurgents -- including both Al Qaida as well as Taliban agents Ñ boarded ships for various destinations in the Persian Gulf and Middle East.

On Tuesday, the Kuwaiti A-Rai Al Aam daily reported that authorities located and captured seven infiltrators from Afghanistan. The newspaper said 13 infiltrators, identified as Taliban agents, had entered the sheikdom by sea via the Persian Gulf.

The newspaper said authorities are searching for the six Afghan insurgents who succeeded in entering the sheikdom. The daily said the infiltrators were seeking to resettle in Kuwait.

The U.S. Defense Department has identified Kuwait as an ally in the Washington-led war against terrorism. Kuwait has also hosted thousands of troops from such countries as Britain, Canada, Germany and the United States.

Kuwaiti officials acknowledge that the cooperation with the United States in preventing infiltration from Afghanistan comes after years of Al Qaida and Taliban use of the sheikdom as a transit point. "Everybody knows that most of the Afghan infiltrators entered Kuwait," Kuwaiti Information Minister Ahmed Fahed Al Sabah said. "The last group has not been the first to enter the country but have been among many people who have entered the country particularly over the last two years."

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