CNN quoting American experts said they don''t think the alleged move will affect the effort using drones to target the Haqqani Network and other militant groups holed up in the tribal region.That''s because many strikes have been conducted from closer bases, such as those across the Pakistani border in eastern Afghan provinces.
They said the Pakistanis could be making the alleged move to appease a populace angry at the US.The southern air base, they said, doesn''t appear to be integral to the tribal area fight and is probably a supporting base."It''s not like the Pakistanis shut down the program...It''s possible they want to do this as a means of pre-empting drone strikes in Balochistan," where there is a Taliban presence."The United States has an interest in going after the Taliban in Balochistan" an expert said, and in an ideal world the United States would like to target Taliban sanctuaries in that region with drones.The reports of closure of base comes after Pakistan''s powerful army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani called on US to stop drone strikes on its soil saying the attacks harmed Pakistan''s anti-terror efforts and sparked public anger.Kayani conveyed this to top US military commander Admiral Mike Mullen during a meeting in Rawalpindi this week.Mullen had identified the entire North Waziristhan as a hotbed of Haqqani, Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorists planning strikes in neighbouring Afghanistan.Though Kayani and ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha had raised similar concerns earlier, the US has continued with its deadly drone operations in Pakistan''s restive tribal belt.It was not immediately clear whether Pakistan''s move to bar the use of its airfield for drone would signal an end of such operations.The US could use bases in Afghanistan to continue such operations. PTI