Americas

Americas

U.S. military liaison officers return to Pakistan

31 May 2012 23:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. U.S. Department of Defense said on Thursday that two military liaison officers have returned to Pakistan at the request of the country’s government, a sign that the relations between the two countries maybe improving, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby briefed reporters Thursday that the posting is part of an effort to improve tactical and operational coordination between NATO’s International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and the Pakistani military.

Based in Peshawar, Pakistan, the liaison officers are working with the headquarters staff of the Pakistani army’s 11th Corps, Kirby said. The purpose of the posting is to "increase and improve communication between the two militaries along that border."

The liaison officers left Pakistan following the cross-border incident last November, in which U.S. air strike on the country’s Mohmand Agency killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Relationship between the two countries deteriorated after the incident, and Pakistan had closed the land routes of NATO supplies through its territories.

A Pentagon review of the incident cited inadequate coordination as a cause of the attack.