Washington: Marking a first such step, Pakistan will be involved in armed US Predator missions against militants in its territory under a new partnership giving its military significant control over drone attacks, American military officials have revealed.
In an apparent response to strident demands from Pakistani leaders for Drone technology and that the country be involved in Predator missions, the US military has launched a programme of drone strikes against the Taliban and Al-Qaida in Pakistan that for the first time gives its officers significant control over routes, targets and decisions to fire weapons, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.
The joint effort is aimed at getting the government in Islamabad, which has bitterly protested unilateral Predator strikes, more directly engaged in one of the most successful elements of the battle against insurgents, it said quoting unanamed officials.
It also marks a broad new role for the US military in hunting the Taliban and its Al-Qaida allies, who pose a growing threat to both Pakistan and Afghanistan. For years, that task has been the domain of the CIA, which has flown its own Predator missions over Pakistan.
Under the new partnership, a separate fleet of US drones operated by the Defence Department will be free for the first time to venture beyond the Afghan border under the direction of Pakistani military officials, who are working alongside American counterparts at a command centre in Jalalabad, Afghanistan.