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Journalism of Courage
Pakistan has decided to deploy air defence weapons on its border with Afghanistan to pre-empt fresh attacks by NATO and allied forces in the wake of a pre-planned air strike that killed 24 soldiers.
The decision to deploy air defence weapons was made as the country re-evaluates its strategy for safeguarding its western borders from air raids,the Pakistan Armys Director General of Military Operations,Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem Ahmed,told the federal cabinet and Senates Standing Committee on Defence on Thursday.
After the November 26 NATO attack on two military check posts in the Mohmand Agency,we fear an attack from the western border. Hence a decision has been taken to deploy air defence weapons in that region, a participant of one of the briefings told Dawn newspaper.
Pakistan closed all NATO supply routes and asked the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase by December 11.
The DGMO said the army chief,Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani,had given troops full liberty to retaliate to any further attacks without prior approval. He said that Pakistan border posts were currently equipped with small weapons suitable for fighting insurgents and bunkers had been built.
Ahmed said the coordination mechanism between Pakistani and NATO forces had been completely violated and there were reasons to believe that the air strike was planned,and not a mistake.
Another participant of the briefings said Ahmed pointed out that the commander of International Security Assistance Force,Gen John Allen,had met Kayani on November 26,hours before the border posts were attacked by NATO aircraft. When the matter was taken up with Allen the next day,he expressed ignorance.
According to him (Allen) no such attack was planned,giving rise to speculations that certain operations are conducted by CIA and Special Operation Forces on their own,about which NATO and ISAF are kept in the dark, Ahmed was quoted as saying.
