The Faisal Shehzad case has led feds to issue a chilling warning to Pakistani leaders: check your family and staff for terrorist ties, according to reports.

According to a reports released by Philip Shenon, the U.S. has warned civilian and military leaders in Pakistan that they need to worry about a newly uncovered breeding ground for anti-American terrorists: their own families.

The Obama administration has sent a “clear, if carefully worded warning” to Pakistani leaders in recent days that their own children and others relatives, as well as their subordinates in the government, should be scrutinized for possible terrorist ties.

“We’ve got elements of the Pakistani gentry, people who can get in and out of the U.S. with ease, if they are not already citizens here, who are getting roped into terrorism,” an American diplomatic official said.

The diplomatic official also said that Pakistanis have also been told that the U.S. is concerned by the large number of connections between Pakistani military officers and some of the recently uncovered terrorist plots aimed at the U.S. and its European allies.

The U.S. warning to the Pakistani civilian and military leaders was made after the son of a retired Pakistani air marshal was found as the culprit in the attempted terrorist bombing in Times Square last month. Along with this, a guilty plea in March made by a Pakistani-American man in Chicago who has connections throughout the Pakistan government, including a half-brother who is the prime minister’s chief spokesman, has led to such a warning to Pakistan.

The Pakistani-American from Chicago, David Headley, attended one of Pakistan’s most elite military academies and had maintained friendships throughout the Pakistani military before he was arrested. Also, a retired Pakistani army colonel – who remains at large – has also been indicted in the Chicago case.

“With these two cases, you really see what we’re up against,” said the American diplomatic official.

“We’ve got elements of the Pakistani gentry—people who can get in and out of the United States with ease, if they’re not already citizens here—who are getting roped into terrorism,” he added.

Due to the failed Times Square bombing, the U.S. has publicly warned Pakistan of severe diplomatic repercussions if Pakistani terrorists attempt to strike again on American soil.

The warnings were delivered as recently as this week, when National Security Adviser James Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta traveled to Pakistan to meet with their counterparts there.

Although Pakistan has been closely working with the U.S. in the War on Terrorism, Washington has signaled its wariness of the intentions of large elements of the Pakistani military and the country’s intelligence agencies, and the recent terrorism cases have increased tensions between the two countries.  This latest warning from the U.S. could further complicate relations.