Military briefed the parliament on Abbottabad operation

Islamabad, MTT News Desk: Director General of Inter Services Intelligence Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha said that military was not expecting United States to conduct any such military operation inside Pakistan and we were completely surprised.

He was giving a high profile briefing to the parliamentarians, today in Islamabad.

A special in-camera session of the parliament was called to analyse the matters of national security after USA had invaded and attacked Abbottabad.

At one point the DG ISI Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha had also offered his resignation and said that if the Prime Minister of Pakistan orders him to resign, he is ready to go back home as retired army officer, straight from parliament. He said that after intelligence failure in Abbottabad operation, he had decided to resign and taken his family into confidence too. But the army chief had stopped him from doing so.

He said that he accepts the intelligence failure regarding the presence of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad and is ready to present himself in front of any commission, constituted by the parliament.

He told the parliament that United States did not take us in to confidence for this operation and we were not hoping USA to bypass us.

On question of Indian capabilities to conduct any such operation, the DG ISI Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha told the parliament that India does not posses any such capability and thus, will dare to do so.

During the question and answer, the Noora Kushti between Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha and JUI(F) was enjoyable. JUI (F) MNA Moulana Atta Ur Rahman asked DG ISI that who had funded and supported Taliban. Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha responded that you and us know very well, who had supported and funded Taliban. He further said that today is not the day to quarrel but to work jointly for the purpose of national security.

The Director General of Inter Services Intelligence, Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha said that the evidence indicates that Osama Bin Laden was living in the said house.

The Air Chief and Deputy Air Chief had also briefed the parliament on Abbottabad operation. On repeated questions by parliamentarians, that when the drone attacks will be stopped. The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshall Rao Qamar Suleman said that whenever the government will issue orders, Pakistan Air Force will stop the drone attacks. Air Marshall Rao Qamar Suleman said that Pakistan does have technology and capability to stop drone attacks.

The air chief had told the Parliament that Shamsi Airbase is not in control of Pakistan Air Force. He said that UAE had purchased 250 acre piece of land from the government in 90s and constructed the airport. After USA invaded Afghanistan, USA had obtained permissions from UAE to use this airport as its military airbase.

The DG ISI, Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha had also provided the statistics of causalities of armed forced of Pakistan during war against terror.

Comparing with NATO, Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha told the parliamentarians that USA and NATO have 102,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, While 146,000 Pakistani soldiers are fighting against terrorism. He further told the parliament that 3,500 Pakistani forces personals had given their life during this war, while the number of NATO causalities is 2,300.

He had also told the Parliament that Pakistan has 812 check posts at Pakistan – Afghanistan border, while NATO has only 112 check posts, on the other side of the border.

Deputy Chief of Air Staff Operations, Air Marshall Mohammad Hassan told the Parliament that US helicopters were armed with stealth technology, which prevented them from displaying on radar screens.

Air Marshall Mohammad Hassan had denied the claim that Pakistani radars were jammed by USA before US choppers violated Pakistani air space. He told the parliament that Pakistani radars are equipped with anti-radar equipments.

He told the parliament that Pakistan does not possess the technology to detect choppers equipped with stealth technology. However, he said, Pakistan had already initiated the research on this technology.

The overall environment in in-camera briefing of Parliament was tense in the beginning, but the session ended with positive note.

The Parliamentarians, then, drafted a mutually agreed resolution to end the 10 hours long in-camera session of Parliament.

The resolution demanded to form an independent commission to investigate the Abbottabad operation. The resolution also condemned the drone attacks and demanded to stop drone attacks immediately.

The resolution threatens to block NATO supplies, if USA tries to conduct any such military operation inside Pakistan. The resolution also vowed to protect national security at all cost.

The resolution also asked the government to reconsider Pakistan’s role in war against terror and relations with United States.

The in-camera session of Parliament remained continued for nearly 10 hours. At one point at was about to enter into second day. But the deputy speaker, Faisal Karim Kundi and adjourned the session for 15 minutes at 11:59 PM. No session of the parliament, according to the constitution, could continue for 2 days.