Pakistan’s government has for years received direct communications from the CIA regarding strikes by U.S. drones and repeatedly given its consent to their use within its territory, according to leaked CIA documents and Pakistani memos published by The Washington Post on Thursday.

The files revealed close coordination between Pakistan and the CIA between 2007 and 2011, including detailed maps, before-and-after photos of U.S. drone targets and specific instructions to the Pakistani government concerning its use of the controversial program — which is extremely unpopular with the Pakistani public and has even been condemned by the country’s current government.

Pakistan’s approval of past U.S. drone strikes has been an open secret in Washington and Islamabad for years, but the new files provide the most explicit evidence to date on how closely the two countries worked together to carry them out.

While the U.S. has since publicly discussed its drone program, the new documents cover a period when it did not acknowledge the program's existence. According to the Post, the documents from the U.S. are marked “top secret” but cleared for sharing with Pakistan.

Reached for comment by the Post, a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry demurred on the specific claims but stated the current Pakistani government’s policy on drones.

“Whatever understandings there may or may not have been in the past, the present government has been very clear regarding its policy on the issue,” Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told the Post.

“We regard such strikes as a violation of our sovereignty as well as international law. They are also counterproductive,” he added.

According to the Post, the CIA declined to comment on the new revelations but did not refute them.