US behind PNS Mehran attack, says Nawaz Sharif

PML-N chief says current govt’s ‘inept’ policies destabilising country.

MANSEHRA:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif, on Tuesday, blamed the US for Sunday night’s brazen assault on PNS Mehran in Karachi, terming it a covert move to weaken Pakistan by attacking its vital installations.

“Yes it is the anti-state elements, including the US, who are behind the whole episode,” he said, speaking to participants at the inaugural ceremony of the district office of the PML-N’s youth wing.

He said that Pakistan had barely moved past the shock over the Abbottabad operation carried out by the US Navy SEALs, when the attack on Naval airbase took place, shattering the confidence of the people in the government and those responsible for the protection of key installations.

Criticising the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) -led coalition government, he said the country’s defence institutions had suffered a great loss in the wake of the destruction of fighter planes and navy personnel had suffered casualties in the attack but the rulers continue to stand by without devising a strategy to combat such emergencies.

He said that citizens were uncertain about the country’s defence strategy as a result of the government’s incompetent policies.

“Inept rulers who are more concerned about safeguarding their personal interests and appeasing the US, even at the cost of Pakistan’s sovereignty, have exposed the country to various dangers,” he said.

Stressing on the need for a thorough probe into the Abbottabad raid in line with the parliamentary resolution, , Sharif said a commission should also be set up to investigate the attack on PNS Mehran.

Confident that his party would be in power following the next elections, Sharif added that the PML-N would steer the country out of its current economic crisis and make the country’s defence invincible.

Avoiding a question thrown at him by the youth present at the occasion about his support for carving out the Hazara division as the fifth province, Sharif averted his gaze and quietly walked off the stage.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2011.