Shamsi Air Base under UAE control: Air Chief

[FC 20]

its not under the uae airforce but uae uses it for vvip flights in the summer

 

[Tayyab1796]

Can we use UAE 's F16 s against our enemies ... the answer must be a big 'no' ... then y the feck we gave them our air base ... raises big questions about how many bases do we hav under our own control ... . this country is 'for sale' and this time even Generals are complicit in this 'loot sale' . ALLAH ALMIGHTY help us .

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

FYI Base in Tajikistan is shared by India and Russia. Singapore airforce uses airspace of Vietnam and India for their operational flexibility. US uses a host of bases in Europe and Japan and Korea. France recently operationalized a base in ME. if PAF would have sufficent AC strenght why not? Lets say PAF houses a base in KSA does it have an aircraft which can fly from KSA, carry out a srike mission and return? if PAF 1) had 2)would have decided to use all the bases then who would have paid for the excess expenditure,its development projects, no?

Bases in foreign lands is another issue.

Singapore uses it for training and not throughout the year and so it is not a base!

The US can have a base in Timbuctoo, but it has no base in India nor has any other country either!!

 

[Jango]

shamsi is not an airbase...it is an airstrip...only a runway......used for hunting trips...they dont have combat aircraft there.

 

[JonAsad]

shamsi is not an airbase...it is an airstrip...only a runway......used for hunting trips...they dont have combat aircraft there.

IF they believe you there will be no news- Let them create news and discuss it-

 

[Aamir Hussain]

It is a civil airstrip. Now it houses enhanced facilities to house contract personnel , drones and recovery operations by US. Pakistan knows about this -- this is just part of the plausable deniability strategy in calling this landing strip in UAE control. This A/b is also given as a recovery airbase for PAF.

 

[DarK-LorD]

Why is PA selling Pakistan's sovereignty?

 

[JonAsad]

Why is PA selling Pakistan's sovereignty?

Exactly how will it effect sovereignty?-

 

[lonedrifter]

Why jump to conclusions... F16, Iran, we don’t have much information about the base eventually every thing will come clear with the passage of time. And about UAE they are our brotherly country they helped us allot during tough times openly & secretly; even brothers have quarrels between them on some matters so nothing to worry about.

 

[Roybot]

do the math man.....if you dont know anything about aviation...then say it.....no shame...i will explain...

It was just a honest question. You jumped your smart assery gun. Thanks anyways.

 

[Comet]

What on Earth is happening in this country?

 

[monitor]

What on Earth is happening in this country?

Whats not happening

 

[Aamir Hussain]

Do not read a lot into this --- it is "Plausible Deniablity" and nothing more. BTW, who is manning the outer perameter security of this "UAE" airbase? Answer; Pakistani Armed Forces.

 

[Ammyy]

Exactly how will it effect sovereignty?-

I am sure you dnt want to talk about sovereignty after OBL dead and every day drone attack

 

[Al Bhatti]

April 22, 2011

Shamsi Air Base taken back from CIA, US forces


ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has stopped all US operations from the Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan, an airport which was given to American forces for use after 9/11 and drone attacks were launched from the base on targets in the tribal areas, military sources have confirmed. It was also used extensively in 2001 when thousands of US sorties took off to bomb Afghanistan a few weeks after the 9/11 attack in New York.

As the relations between Islamabad and Washington have strained due to latter’s mounting interference and repeated breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty, the US Embassy spokesman, Alberto Rodriguez, confirmed that there are no US forces at the Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) spokesperson, when approached about his version on the vacation of US forces and the deadly drones from Shamsi airfield, explained that the airfield does not belong to the PAF while the Pakistan Army sources confirmed that the airfield was free from the American forces.

No one was prepared to share with The News the dates or the time period when the Shamsi airfield was vacated by the Americans although the sources insist that it is a recent development.

Almost a year back, Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar spoke on the topic of the Shamsi Air Base confirming that it was being used by American forces for logistical purposes but, he added, the government was not satisfied with payments for the use of the facility.

Mukhtar, however, did not go into the nature of airfield’s use by the American forces. Prior to Shamsi, Pakistan had also got vacated from the US forces the Jacobabad Air Base and Pasni, which were used for its operations in Afghanistan.

The US has been using the Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan province to station unmanned Predator drones that have been used to attack terrorist targets inside Pakistan’s tribal areas. Shamsi airfield, also called Bandari, is a small airfield and air station located about 200 miles southwest of Quetta near the town of Washki.

In 2009, media reports revealed that the airfield was used by the United States Central Intelligence Agency as a base for Predator drone attacks on so-called militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas but ended up killing several hundreds innocent people. On January 9, 2002 a US Marine Corps KC-130 aircraft reportedly crashed on approach to Shamsi. All seven crew members were killed in the crash.

In February 2009, The Times of London had announced that it had obtained Google images from 2006 which showed Predator aircraft parked outside a hangar at the end of the runway of the Shamsi airfield. Before that, a US Senator Dianne Feinstein said that the CIA was basing its drone aircraft in Pakistan. The US company Blackwater was also reported to have a presence there, hired by the government to arm the drones with missiles.

It was General Musharraf who had permitted the US to use its airbases not only to attack Afghanistan but also to launch drone attacks on the people of Pakistan in the name of the so-called war on terror. The present regime also continued with Musharraf’s policies and allowed much larger number of drone attacks than before.

WikiLeaks had revealed that Prime Minister Gilani had endorsed the drones’ policy. Gilani was reported to have even said to the US officials that his government would raise hue and cry over these drone attacks for the sake of countering the public pressure.

However, of late and after the Raymond Davis episode, things became extremely tense between Washington and Islamabad with the CIA insisting to carry on with its operations, including the drone attacks inside Pakistan, while the ISI is adamant to restricting the Americans from crossing the red-line.

Shamsi Air Base taken back from CIA, US forces

This news was posted here on this forum on 22-Apr-2011