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Pakistani official:US drone strikes carried with Pakistan government nod

22 October 2012 23:02 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A top Pakistani defence official Monday told a parliamentary committee that the United States had conducted drone attacks in the country’s tribal regions with the government’s approval, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (retd) Asif Yasin Malik informed the Senate Standing Committee on Defence that the U.S. military used Shamsi airbase in southwestern Balochistan province until December last year while it had been in its use.

The base had been sub-leased to the U.S. by the UAE on Oct 20, 2011 with the approval of then military president Pervez Musharraf.

It was vacated by the U.S. on December 11, 2011 after Pakistan asked the American military to leave in view of the killings of Pakistani soldiers in U.S. airstrikes.

The secretary defence informed the committee that the U.S. had not made any payments to Pakistan over its use of Shamsi airbase.

Pakistan had also closed NATO supply line after the airstrikes for several months.

Malik said since the resumption of NATO supplies from Pakistan to Afghanistan, the U.S. had resumed military aid to Pakistan.

On internal issues, the Defence Secretary said that the political cell of the major intelligence agency was disbanded five years ago and that no cell has been operating since then.

Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed said on Monday that parliamentary oversight of the defence spending is to ensure good governance and transparency.

Briefing the media on the defence budget with the view to remove misperceptions, Senator Mushahid informed that a comparative analysis was placed before the committee during the meeting.

He said that the committee underlined the need for more transparency in the budget being spent on defence of the country.

The defence secretary also presented before the committee the details of the defence budget for the current fiscal year.