Pakistan finally admits US using Shamsi airbase in Balochistan

[ssheppard]

Pakistan, for the first time, has admitted that the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan is being used by the US forces for logistical purposes.

Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar said the US is using the Shamsi airbase, but the government is not satisfied with payments for its use, The Dawn reports.

It may be noted that the US forces were also operating from the Jacobabad and Pasni airbases for carrying out operations in Afghanistan.

Mukhtars statements comes a day after he admitted the presence of Quetta Shura in Pakistan, a fact which was being vehemently denied by Islamabad so far.

On Saturday, Mukhtar had said that there is no threat from the shura (Quetta based union council of the Taliban), as it has been significantly damaged by the security forces.

Security forces have taken on the Quetta Shura, damaged it to such an extent that it no longer pose any threat to the country, Mukhtar had said.

While Pakistan has been fervently denying reports about the presence of the Talibani leadership inside its boundaries, particularly in Balochistan, the United States, time and again, has stressed that key Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders have taken refuge in that region and were planning attacks from there.

A recent report by General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, also claimed that the Taliban leadership was in Quetta, Balochistans capital, and that it was plotting attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.

Pakistan accepts US drones using its airbases, but only for logistical reasons

DAWN.COM | Pakistan | US forces using Shamsi airbase in Balochistan

 

[Slides]

We have known about Shamsi and other bases previously used by the US since 2001.

 

[abbasniazi]

In my opinion, the problem of almost all the nations(specially those in the west or those who are allies to the west) is that their governments are lieing to them.

The nations may not get upset if their governments take them into confidence and fomulate a national strategy with consensus.

We in pakistan practically experianced that earlier when Pakistan Army was fighting a covert war against taliban but had very little support of the people, but as soon as the facts were revealed to the public and consensus was sought which later on developed, the successive operations went successfull.

So, no matter how big or ugly the issue may look, its success can only be ensured when public opinion is made an integral part of the strategy.