Islamabad: US Special Forces were embedded with Pakistani troops for
intelligence gathering and joint operations in 2009, US diplomatic cables have
revealed.
Confidential US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks and obtained by Dawn
newspaper throw light on new details about the activities of US forces in
Pakistan.
The issue has gained heightened sensitivity in the aftermath of the CIA
security contractor Raymond Davis killing two Pakistanis in Lahore and the US
raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad that killed the Al Qaeda
chief.
"We have created intelligence fusion cells with embedded US Special Forces
with both SSG and Frontier Corps (Bala Hisar, Peshawar) with the Rover equipment
ready to deploy," reported the then US ambassador Anne Patterson to the State
Department in May 2009.
"Through these embeds, we are assisting the Pakistanis collect and coordinate
existing intelligence assets."
At the time she noted that the US had "not been given permission to accompany
the Pakistani forces on deployments as yet."
By September, plans for the joint intelligence activities had been expanded
to include army headquarters.
Meanwhile, joint operations on the ground were also in the pipeline. One
previously unpublished cable describes how a deployment with US forces in
Pakistani territory was planned for April 2009 before it was called off at the
eleventh hour.
A number of the leaked reports reveal, however, that the US had been eager to
embed American troops with Pakistanis soldiers. IANS
