Abbottabad Panel: US violated Pakistan’s trust, says DGMO
"The US operation in Abbottabad was not known to any tier in the Pakistan Army," Major General Ashfaq Nadeem.
ISLAMABAD:
The United States abused Pakistan’s trust and the army was taken by surprise on the day American troops carried out a covert operation to kill al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Ashfaq Nadeem told an inquiry panel probing the matter on Monday.
“The US acted in an environment of trust and the Army was, therefore, taken by surprise,” said Maj Gen Nadeem who appeared before the inquiry commission probing the Abbottabad incident.
This was the commission’s third meeting and another meeting is scheduled to be held on August 1 for which director-general of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has been summoned.
A brief official handout issued after the meeting said the DGMO gave details of army posts set up along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Highlighting the various operations the army is carrying out against militants, he said that the army’s presence was aimed at re-establishing the writ of the state.
“We had envisaged no threat whatsoever from Afghanistan and Isaf (International Security Assistance Force), both of whom are allies of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism,” he was quoted as having told the commission.
An air force official had told the commission during the previous meeting that Pakistan’s radar system was in a peacetime mode the day US Marines intruded into Pakistan and the US used sophisticated technology to evade detection by Pakistan’s defence system.
Giving the army’s perspective on the debacle, Maj Gen Nadeem said that immediately after learning about the intrusion, army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had contacted the air force chief, the foreign secretary, the prime minister and the president.
The DGMO explained that Abbottabad was “an open cantonment”, hosting “only training institutions”. He said that no fighting troops “are deployed in the (Abbottabad) garrison”. “These training institutions have their own security to deal with any security threat which is primarily to ensure the security of these training centres.”
Pakistan’s leading military academy, Kakul, is located just a couple of miles away from the compound where Osama was found.
Pakistan and US/Isaf, the DGMO said, conducted anti-militant operations on their respective sides and plans of operations close to the border “are fully shared”.
According to him, the US operation in Abbottabad was “not known to any tier in the Pakistan Army”.
Yet despite the admission of what appear to be several gaps in the country’s air defences, Maj-Gen Nadeem assured the commission that all of the country’s strategic sites “are very well protected and are under air and ground protection of Pakistan armed forces”.
He said linking their security with Abbottabad was unjustified and that there was no comparison.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2011.
The United States abused Pakistan’s trust and the army was taken by surprise on the day American troops carried out a covert operation to kill al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) Major General Ashfaq Nadeem told an inquiry panel probing the matter on Monday.
“The US acted in an environment of trust and the Army was, therefore, taken by surprise,” said Maj Gen Nadeem who appeared before the inquiry commission probing the Abbottabad incident.
This was the commission’s third meeting and another meeting is scheduled to be held on August 1 for which director-general of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) has been summoned.
A brief official handout issued after the meeting said the DGMO gave details of army posts set up along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Highlighting the various operations the army is carrying out against militants, he said that the army’s presence was aimed at re-establishing the writ of the state.
“We had envisaged no threat whatsoever from Afghanistan and Isaf (International Security Assistance Force), both of whom are allies of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism,” he was quoted as having told the commission.
An air force official had told the commission during the previous meeting that Pakistan’s radar system was in a peacetime mode the day US Marines intruded into Pakistan and the US used sophisticated technology to evade detection by Pakistan’s defence system.
Giving the army’s perspective on the debacle, Maj Gen Nadeem said that immediately after learning about the intrusion, army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had contacted the air force chief, the foreign secretary, the prime minister and the president.
The DGMO explained that Abbottabad was “an open cantonment”, hosting “only training institutions”. He said that no fighting troops “are deployed in the (Abbottabad) garrison”. “These training institutions have their own security to deal with any security threat which is primarily to ensure the security of these training centres.”
Pakistan’s leading military academy, Kakul, is located just a couple of miles away from the compound where Osama was found.
Pakistan and US/Isaf, the DGMO said, conducted anti-militant operations on their respective sides and plans of operations close to the border “are fully shared”.
According to him, the US operation in Abbottabad was “not known to any tier in the Pakistan Army”.
Yet despite the admission of what appear to be several gaps in the country’s air defences, Maj-Gen Nadeem assured the commission that all of the country’s strategic sites “are very well protected and are under air and ground protection of Pakistan armed forces”.
He said linking their security with Abbottabad was unjustified and that there was no comparison.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2011.