US fighter jets intrude into Pak airspace

[IBRIS]

US fighter jets were on Saturday seen flying over Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan for almost two hours, local residents and officials said, reported Indian news agency PTI.
The jets, which were flying at low altitude, intruded almost 50 kilometers into the Pakistani airspace. They were seen flying over Soran Darra, Ghanam Shah, Shaikh Baba, Matai and Khazeena Chinari, which are located west of Ghalanai, the main town of Mohmand Agency.
Officials of the local political administration also confirmed the intrusion by the US jets. Local residents said the US aircraft flew across the Afghan border at around 8:00 am and remained in the Pakistani airspace for almost two hours.
This development has sprung a wave of panic among the local population, who are already terrorized by the continued US drone attacks as such attacks are claiming lives of innocent people.
The tribesmen protested against the intrusion by the US fighters, saying international norms do not allow aircraft of a foreign country to fly over an independent nation without its permission.
Tribal elders asked the government to take up the matter with the UN and vowed to defend Pakistan against ‘any foreign aggression’.
American fighter jets intrude into Pakistani airspace - dnaindia.com

 

[Rahul Singh]

Seems as if US has decided that UAVs alone are not sufficient to hunt down these terrorists..... Nevertheless most important point in my opinion from this news is that sub-continent minus India have become the most volatile part of the earth.

The tribesmen protested against the intrusion by the US fighters, saying international norms do not allow aircraft of a foreign country to fly over an independent nation without its permission.

Pakistanis are real shameless and thankless. They talk about all this but they deliberately skips the point that it is the same country which feeds them and implant teeth in their defence forces.

 

[bhramos]

may be Pak govt granted permission to US forces in return to Billion $ aid.

@ Rahul Singh
pls dont use that word pakis kindly, its against our DFI rules.

 

[AirforcePilot]

@ bhramos, I think you hit the nail right on the head. Pakistan is always complaining that we violate their airspace. If Pakistan was angry about the incursions, why not try to shoot the aircrafts down? I'm sure we are not going into Pakistan airspace without the approval of the Pakistani government, and also the $ 7.1 BILLION does play a big part in it.

 

[IBRIS]

^^^^
US forces mounted secret Pakistan raids in hunt for al-Qaida

Former Nato officer reveals secret night operations in border region which America kept quiet

American special forces have conducted multiple clandestine raids into Pakistan's tribal areas as part of a secret war in the border region where Washington is pressing to expand its drone assassination programme.

A former Nato officer said the incursions, only one of which has been previously reported, occurred between 2003 and 2008, involved helicopter-borne elite soldiers stealing across the border at night, and were never declared to the Pakistani government.

"The Pakistanis were kept entirely in the dark about it. It was one of those things we wouldn't confirm officially with them," said the source, who had detailed knowledge of the operations.

Such operations are a matter of sensitivity in Pakistan. While public opinion has grudgingly tolerated CIA-led drone strikes in the tribal areas, any hint of American "boots on the ground" is greeted with virulent condemnation.

After the only publicly acknowledged special forces raid in September 2008, Pakistan's foreign office condemned it as "a grave provocation" while the military threatened retaliatory action.

The military source said that was the fourth raid of previous years. Two of the others targeted Taliban and al-Qaida "high-value targets" near the border, while the third was to rescue a crashed Predator drone. He said that one of the capture raids succeeded, the other failed and the US sent elite soldiers to the downed Predator because they did not trust Pakistani forces. "People were afraid they would take the parts and reverse- engineer its components," he said.

The secretive nature of the raids underscores the suspicious nature of the relationship between the two allies as they argue about Washington's latest demands.
Disrupting the Taliban safe haven inside Pakistan is the unspoken part of Barack Obama's

"surge" announced this month. Although 30,000 troops will be deployed to Afghanistan by next summer, the Taliban and al-Qaida leadership is believed to be sheltering on the Pakistani side of the 1,600-mile border.

US forces mounted secret Pakistan raids in hunt for al-Qaida | World news | The Guardian

 

[sandeepdg]

With the US upping the ante against Pakistan lousy progress in the fight against the Taliban, I think we will be seeing more of such incidents in the near future.... No matter how much the people of Pakistan rant against these incidents, they also know that there's nothing the Pakistani government can do other than just shout ! Those billions coming their way from the Americans is essential to keep their country running after all !

 

[thakur_ritesh]

Pakistan is home to conspiracy theories, where all these conspiracy theorists are treated as heroes and seen as the saviors of the country. All they say is believed without asking for any proof of evidence supporting their claims, ironically all such air intrusions are sourced from unnamed sources by these conspiracy theorists.

This news is carried by an Indian news agency, cant get a head or tail of why this was not picked up by the local media, but then their local media has come up with even startling news of presence of b52 bomber seen over their air space.

That apart, usaf uses Pakistan air force’s air strips in the tribal areas to carry out bombing in the tribal areas in Afghanistan, and these missions are carried by both manned and umanned jets/UCAVs which might have been seen making their way back to their bases in Pakistan and so the rumor mill is doing the rounds yet again.

As usual publicly the pak armed forces and pak government will initially come up with denials, when the media will flash some pictures or pick up some official leak from the US, they will publicly try and confront, where as behind the doors it will be business as usual.

All an eyewash to appease a disillusioned populace.

 

[sayareakd]

US does that all the time with their UAVs so what is new if this time it has been done with fighter jet, US pays top $$ to Pakistan to keep its eyes shut and not to speak, not to forget all the top military equipment given as aid for free.

 

[himanshugoswami]

The Pakistanis can rave and rant all they want for public consumption, but the fact is that they are mere puppets in the hands of US an China. they have no national identity left and if the Indian Govt. was a bit more aggressive and showed a strong spine in dealing with Pakistan, there is precious little our western neighbours will be able to do about it. even their so called nuke detterent is nothing more than posturing- they have absolutely no second strike capability and even though their (indigenous? yah right!!) Korean missiles are reasonably good, the quality and efficacy of their war heads is seriously in doubt.

 

[Daredevil]

Sighting of a B-52 bomber is just a conspiracy theory by ilk of Zaid Hamid, Shireen Mazari, Ahmed Quereshi etc. I don't think US is ready yet to do carpet bombing in Pakistan, Reapers are doing a good job already in specifically targeting the high-profile terrorists.

 

[SATISH]

Well how can you differentiate the silhouette of an American F 16 and a Pakistani F 16? Can someone enlighten me?