Pakistan to deploy air defence weapons on Afghan border

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Pakistan will deploy air defence weapons on the border with Afghanistan to pre-empt fresh attacks by NATO forces in the wake of a ‘pre-planned’ air strike that killed 24 soldiers, a top military official has said.

The decision to deploy air defence weapons was part of Pakistan's re-evaluation of its strategy for guarding its western borders against air raids, the Pakistan Army's Director General of Military Operations, Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem Ahmed, told the cabinet and the Senate's Standing Committee on Defence during briefings on Thursday.

"After the November 26 NATO attack on two military check posts in the Mohmand Agency, we fear an attack from the western border. Hence a decision has been taken to deploy air defence weapons in that region," a participant of one of the briefings told the Dawn newspaper.

Ahmed was quoted by The Express Tribune as saying that last month's air strike was part of a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’ against Pakistan. He said he suspected the CIA and Special Forces in Afghanistan might have been behind the incident.

"We can expect more attacks from our supposed allies," Ahmed was quoted as saying during his briefing to the Senate panel.

He also rejected claims by the US and NATO that the attack was unintended and the result of a misunderstanding. Pakistan closed all NATO supply routes and asked the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase by December 11 following the air strike.

Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has given troops ‘full liberty’ to retaliate against any further attacks without prior approval of the high command.