Pakistan upgrades air defences on Afghan border

Offici­al says steps taken to avert air incurs­ions from Afghan­istan and to respon­d to any future air strikes.


Afp December 09, 2011

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has upgraded its air defence system on the Afghan border to make it capable of shooting down aircraft, after Nato strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, a security official told AFP on Friday.

"Now we have a fully equipped air defence system on the Afghan border. It has the capability to trace and detect any aircraft," the official in the northwestern city of Peshawar told AFP by telephone.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the step had been taken to avert air incursions from Afghanistan and to respond to any future air strikes.

"The system has also been upgraded to immediately respond after detecting any aircraft or helicopter and to shoot it down," he added.

Pakistan shut its border to Nato supply convoys on November 26, the same day as the deadliest single cross-border attack of the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

The government also ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi air base in the southwest, widely reported as a hub in the covert CIA drone war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan.

Pakistan gave tacit support to the programme, but no US drone strike has been reported on Pakistani soil since November 17.

The November 26 attacks brought the fragile Pakistani-US alliance to a fresh low, already reeling from an American stealth raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden near the Pakistani capital on May 2.

It was after that raid, conducted by US Navy SEALs who flew in from Afghanistan, that Pakistan first upgraded its defence systems on the border.

US President Barack Obama has expressed condolences over the November 26 border deaths, insisting it was not a "deliberate attack" by Nato as claimed by the Pakistani army.

COMMENTS (69)

Muzaffar | 12 years ago | Reply

If the World’s Strongest Man attacks you… run ! If you stand and fight, you won’t last 5 minutes. But if you run, chances are that you might have a son who may one day become stronger and beat the crap out of him. And must try for next time we are not forget any other story. We have ability for this reply as soon as possible recmondation

salman | 12 years ago | Reply

I only wish u could actually go on Pak-Afgh border and find 25 km clear intervisibilitty in one of the most porous and tricky terrain of the world. Please come out of google earth and see it for urself. The most dreaded super power could not even take-on few caves after pounding all the daisy cutters at tora bora. This is no holly wood movie ,,, an air def gun and a shoulder fired IR SAM can not be jammed FYI !!!

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