Pakistan army takes over charge of Shamsi airbase

Pakistan army takes over charge of Shamsi airbase

The Pakistan Army on Sunday took over the charge of Shamsi airbase after US forces vacated the airfield in line with a deadline given by the government of Pakistan in the aftermath of last month’s blatant Nato attacks that killed 24 Pakistan soldiers and
injured 13 others.

The Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan confirmed on Sunday that the last flight carrying US personnel and equipment departed on December 11, the last day of the 15-day deadline given to the United States to vacate the facility.

After the departure of US forces, the control of the base has been taken over by the officials of Frontier Constabulary (FC).

"The control of the base has been taken over by the (Pakistan) Army," said ISPR in a statement.

The Shamsi airbase was initially given to the United Arab Emirates on lease in early 1990’s. The UAE government later handed it over to the US Forces to facilitate Pentagon in carrying out air operation against Talibans. The airfield was reportedly being
used to carry out CIA-operated drone attacks targeting militants in the areas near Pak-Afghan border.

There have also been reports that CIA was using Shamsi airbase to operate spy drones on the eastern borders of Iran.

The US personnel removed radars and other sensitive equipment from the base and burnt set on fire all their redundant and useless equipment before abandoning the Shamsi air base to make sure nothing sensitive is left behind.

A Pakistani military official in Balochistan while talking about the burning of some equipment by the US had earlier claimed this was a routine practice as the gear was no longer required. 

Besides taking the charge of Shamsi airbase, Pakistan has also closed all the routes of Nato Supply from its territory and boycotted the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan earlier this month.

Pakistan army has also revised its plan and the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has directed its troops to respond to any such aggression in future with full force “regardless of the cost and consequences”.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=5977

Posted by Asma Rafique on Dec 12 2011. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry