ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The Pakistani army is bolstering air defenses along its Afghan border, including deploying shoulder-to-air missiles, officials said this week, a move that could threaten NATO aircraft and reflects the depths of anger and suspicion here after a deadly NATO airstrike.
Underlining how just raw the wounds are within the Pakistani army, the head of military operations, Maj. Gen. Ashfaq Nadeem, told a Pakistani Senate committee Thursday that the strike in November that killed 24 soldiers was “a pre-planned conspiracy” and warned that Pakistan could expect more such attacks “from our supposed allies,” local newspapers reported.
The latest move, potentially threatening NATO jets in the border region, underlines the depth of distrust in a relationship that many observers here say is now irreparably damaged, despite billions of dollars of U.S. aid to Pakistan over the past decade.
“Primarily it will be early-warning systems, but there will be certain weapons deployed in certain areas,” deputy military spokesman Brig. Gen. Azmat Ali said Friday, stressing that the move was defensive rather than offensive. The Washington Post
