World | Pakistan
Air Force 'can put a stop to US missile strikes'
Pakistan's Air Chief Marshal on Tuesday said the country's Air Force has the capability to stop drone flights and missile strikes from across the border (US bases in Afghanistan), but it was up to the government to decide whether it wanted to benefit from this.
- By Fasihur Rehman Khan and Shahid Hussain, Correspondents
- Published: 23:15 November 25, 2008
Islamabad: Pakistan's Air Chief Marshal on Tuesday said the country's Air Force has the capability to stop drone flights and missile strikes from across the border (US bases in Afghanistan), but it was up to the government to decide whether it wanted to benefit from this.
"Pakistan Air Force is fully capable of stopping drone flights and missile strikes directed against us. But the government should hammer out a consensus policy on these air strikes carried out by US and allied forces," Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmoud told media.
This is the first such statement from the country's Air Force chief incharge of the air defences. A few days ago, Pakistani defence forces carried out an exercise to shoot down unmanned aerial vehicles.
Search for Al Qaida
These vehicles are used by the US forces to launch strikes inside Pakistani territory in their search for Al Qaida and Taliban elements.
A 17-member parliament committee on national security will meet next week to give guidelines to the government on how to tackle the situation created by the drone strikes, officials said.
The committee was set up under a unanimous resolution passed by the two Houses of the parliament on October 22 after a series of in-camera sessions on the national security situation.
Pressure on the committee to give a clear-cut guideline has increased after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said earlier this month that the government would act in accordance with the guidelines of the parliamentary panel regarding the drone strikes.
The resolution had called for urgent review of Pakistan's role in the so-called war on terror and effective measures to safeguard the country's sovereignty.
The forthcoming meeting of the parliamentary committee would be briefed by the ministers of foreign affairs and defence as well as the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
A federal lawmaker from North Waziristan tribal region, target of most of the missile strikes, said the problems in tribal territory could be resolved only through negotiations.
The strikes have intensified since September resulting in dozens of deaths.
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