October 21, 2002	Monday	Sha’aban 14,1423

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KABUL, Oct 20: Britain is closing an airbase in Pakistan used to supply peacekeepers in Afghanistan and transferring its operations to Kabul, a peacekeeping spokesman said Sunday.

The base in Karachi was used to shift heavy gear that arrived by sea to Afghanistan, Major Gordon Mackenzie, spokesman for the British contingent of the International Security Assistance Force, told AFP.

He said the base was now being decommissioned as building work on British military facilities in Kabul was almost finished.

“The base is primarily for moving equipment up here which we cannot fly in directly. Because all the equipment is now here and the construction of the camp is now complete, it is being run down,” he said.

“This has nothing to do with ISAF capability.”

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in Karachi said its contract with ISAF to use the facility would expire on Nov 11. —AFP