Its history is linked to sheikhs coming from the Gulf to Pakistan for hunting to accommodate their planes.
FAISALABAD: This is with reference to your report of May 14 titled “Shamsie airbase not under our control”. I have been to this place and when I saw it, it had a very basic structure. Its history is linked to sheikhs coming from the Gulf to Pakistan for hunting. To accommodate their planes, a runway was built many years ago, one which could accommodate a jet. Initially, a place outside Kharan was chosen but the local people demanded compensation for the land which belonged to the Balochistan government and so the runway was never used. Even today an unpaved landing strip still exists outside Kharan.
The landing strip in use at Shamsie was hence built for this reason and not by the air force. Later when Pervez Musharraf was in power, the strip was handed over to the Americans. The fact of the matter is that the PAF has little to do with it.
Khalid Masood
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2011.
