US 'confident' in Pakistan nuke security

US State department spokesman Mark Toner says Pakistan giving high priority to safety of nuclear weapons effectively.

WASHINGTON: The United States believes that Pakistan's nuclear weapons are in safe hands, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday, rebutting an earlier report that Islamabad's deadly atomic arsenal was vulnerable to theft.

Two US publications, The Atlantic and the National Journal, citing unnamed sources, last week said Pakistan had transported nuclear weapons in low-security vans on congested roads to hide them from US spy agencies.

(Read: Pakistan’s nuclear weapons vulnerable to theft, alleges report)

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters in Washington that the United States was not persuaded that safety had been compromised.

"We have confidence that the government of Pakistan is well aware of the range of potential threats to its nuclear arsenal and is accordingly giving very high priority to securing its nuclear weapons and materials effectively," Toner told reporters.

"We continue to have confidence... that they're taking appropriate steps," he said.

Pakistan at the weekend rejected as "pure fiction" the report's assertion that transporting the weapons in such a manner had made them more susceptible to theft by Islamist militants.

(Read: Pakistan rejects reports of nuclear insecurity)