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The 'New York Times' quoted American military officials as saying that US Army Special Forces soldiers are training Pakistani Army and paramilitary troops, providing them with intelligence and advising on combat tactics.
They do not conduct combat operations, the officials added.
They make up a secret task force, overseen by the United States Central Command and Special Operations Command.
It started last summer, with the support of Pakistan’s government and military, in an effort to root out Qaeda and Taliban operations that threaten American troops in Afghanistan and are increasingly destabilizing Pakistan.
Pakistani officials have vigorously protested American missile strikes in the tribal areas as a violation of sovereignty and have resisted efforts by Washington to put more troops on Pakistani soil.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who leads a weak civilian government, is trying to cope with soaring anti-Americanism among Pakistanis and a belief that he is too close to Washington.
Despite the political hazards for Islamabad, the American effort is beginning to pay dividends.
A new Pakistani commando unit within the Frontier Corps paramilitary force has used information from the Central Intelligence Agency and other sources to kill or capture as many as 60 militants in the past seven months, including at least five high-ranking commanders, a senior Pakistani military official said.
The American officials acknowledge that at the very moment when Washington most needs Pakistan’s help, the greater tensions between Pakistan and India since the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November have made the Pakistani Army less willing to shift its attention to the Qaeda and Taliban threat.
Officials from both Pakistan and the United States agreed to disclose some details about the American military advisers and the enhanced intelligence sharing to help dispel impressions that the missile strikes were thwarting broader efforts to combat a common enemy.
“The intelligence sharing has really improved in the past few months. Both sides realize it’s in their common interest,” said Talat Masood, a retired army general and a military analyst.
In addition, a small team of Pakistani air defense controllers working in the United States Embassy in Islamabad ensures that Pakistani F-16 fighter-bombers conducting missions against militants in the tribal areas do not mistakenly hit remotely piloted American aircraft flying in the same area or a small number of CIA operatives on the ground, a second senior Pakistani officer said.
The new 400-man Pakistani paramilitary commando unit is a good example of the new cooperation.
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it is great that USA is training pakistani commandos.actually there is no need of it but great pak commandos r learning some tactics abd inshallah they will use these when ever they get oppertunity against india.symbol of high resolve, land of pakistan
These pakistanis need training because they are so useless. Even after nearly a decades of US money and military help they cant defeat a few villages of Taliban. The pakistanis are such great warriors that they guarantee India victory every war they fight!
After the treacherous Paki commandos are trained, you can be sure they will stab the Americans in the back. Even then, the stupid Americans will not open their eyes about their Islamic brothers on whom they are blindly relying. In spite of the treachery of the Pakis that they have already experienced, they continue to hob-nob with the Pakis. There is really no word to describe this kind of idiocy.
Yes, and then they will work against India, as usual, because, after all, Al-Queda, Taliban, they are all their friends-in-Arms!
First and formost the USA is the dumbest nation on earth.I think all the comments mentioned so far explains the situation nicely.This is going to be the case of where the dog bites the hand that feeds it. ...and i say go for it USA..soooner or later u are gonna get bitten..
This is because the US thinks that a paki life is cheap than an American life...
The very weapons that the US supplies to Pakistan to fight terrorism are being used against it and the some commandos the US is training in Pakistan will turn against the US. What a paradox!
Sooner or latter this same techneque shall be passed to talibhan/alqueda to fight agaist the U.S
Waste of time for Americans to train pakistanis in this war on terror!
exactly because pak commandos donot need training from any one.ordinary pakistanis can held taj and oberio as hostage then pak commandos can destroy india 6 times
I think these US Administration, hv lost their minds, to tackle the menace of terrorism. The Paks are taking the advantage and throwaing wait around the US to fight against common enemy both the country as says, eventually turn their eyes against India. According to the present revealition, Paks are NO more interest to fight with Taliban, bcoz they are close each other, andy their enemy is not anoybody other than India. US is on the other hand to make the position more worse, while supporting and training Pakis after the mountain war on terror training is did with India. It clearly shows the double standard of US. This is high time to realise the core issue and address same in a proper way to takle the same, otherwise India will land-up in deep trouble fm present position.
If US training can turn men into super soldiers this world would have been a different place. It's the diversion of US funds given to Pakis to fight terrorist for procurement of arms for war with India that is worrisome.
Some time back, US Army had exercises with Indian troops in mountainous regions. Now they are teaching Pak commandos. Does it mean that Pak commandos now know, how Indian Army fight in mountainous regions?
Oh wonderful. Till now we had to deal with Pakistani Village boys trained by Pakistani militants, and now the Americans are training their Army no less. How stupid are the Americans anyway? When will they realise that all their financial aid and training goes to one Pakistani project only - the Hate filled campaign against India.
Well, Deepa, there is reason for this so called waste of time. USA does not want Pakistan to slip into either a military dictatoship or a Taliban run government.
Taliban were also trained by the US with the same zeal. Those commandos who are undergoing training today may again be Taliban-II tommorrow and will start eating into the vitals of USA.Pls dont trust these radicals.USA does not seem to have learnt from the past.Use your own forces and crush the whole of pakistan the same way as Russia did to Chechnya.
It must be said that the trained military personnel of Pakistan sooner than later would turn their resources against INDIA to start with and against Pakistan itself ultimately. This is the pattern we witnessed with respect to the arms supplied by Americans to defeat Russia. Ultimately those weapons were used against INDIA and now Pakistan!
Only to attack INDIA.