Improvements in air force helping war against Taliban

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Military analysts says airstrikes no substitute for ground assault

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has started to improve its ability to pinpoint and attack Taliban targets with precision weapons, adding a new dimension to the country’s fight against extremism, the New York Times has reported.

Military analysts have said the airstrikes alone are no substitute for ground forces or better counterinsurgency training. But they say the strikes have become a valuable tool for Pakistan in fighting the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The air force’s new tools and tactics have several sources. It has accepted some American assistance and officials are urging the Obama administration to lease upgraded F-16s to Pakistan that would allow Pakistani pilots to fly night missions.

According to the New York Times, Pakistan has argued that it needs the more advanced versions of the F-16 to more effectively battle the Taliban. In the past, US officials raised concerns that Pakistan’s arms purchases and troop deployments were geared mainly to bolstering its ability to fight India. “Of course, there is a real threat from India,” Chief of Air Staff Rao Qamar Suleman said in an interview. “But right now we have to tackle the threat from the militants,” he added.

“The biggest handicap we had in Bajaur was that we didn’t have good imagery,” Qamar said. “We didn’t have good target descriptions. We did not know the area. We were forced to use Google Earth. I didn’t want to face a similar situation in Swat,” he added.

However, some US officials voice skepticism about Pakistani claims of success. “We don’t have access to battle-damage assessment or the information on the actual strike execution, so we cannot make a qualitative comparison of what the intended effect was versus the actual effect,” said an American adviser speaking on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, human rights organisations say the military has not been able to eliminate all civilian casualties, but they agree that the numbers are down.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg1_8