12 September 2008

“No external force is allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan,” the military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said in what amounted to a direct rebuff to the United States by the Pakistanis, who are regarded by the Bush administration as an ally in the campaign against terrorism.
The COAS, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has said that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan. He was commenting on the recent incident where innocent civilians were killed in a cross-border raid by the Coalition Forces. He said that the rules of engagement with the Coalition Forces are well defined and within that, the right to conduct operations against the militants inside own territory is solely the responsibility of the respective armed forces. There is no question of any agreement or understanding with the Coalition Forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border.
Pakistan’s Military Chief Criticizes U.S. Over a Raid (NewYork Times) .In an unusually strong statement criticizing the United States for sending commandos into Pakistan to fight the Taliban and Al Qaeda, the chief of the Pakistani Army said Wednesday that his forces would not tolerate such incursions and would defend the country’s sovereignty “at all costs.”Introduction to General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (Urdu: اشفاق پرویز کیانی ) (also spelled Pervez Kiani or Kiyani; born April 1952, Gujar Khan, Punjab) is a Pakistani general and the current Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. Kayani replaced Pervez Musharraf as the leader of the army on November 28, 2007. Kayani is the former director of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, and former Director General of Military Operations.
In an exclusive interview, Pakistan's new prime minister spells out his plans for fighting terrorism and stabilizing his volatile country.

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