WASHINGTON, Jan 28: The Pakistan government has denied that it would allow a military operation by US military reaching inside Pakistan to try to destroy Al Qaeda network as reported by Chicago Tribune on Wednesday. The Pentagon also declined to confirm that such a plan was being worked on.
The newspaper reported that the US military was making plans for an offensive that would reach inside Pakistan in coming months to try to destroy operations of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.
"No foreign forces will operate from Pakistan's territory." Pakistan armed forces spokesman Maj-Gen Shaukat Sultan told Reuters when asked about the Tribune's report.
The Tribune, in a report from Washington citing military sources, said the plans involved thousands of US troops, some of them already in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The report said the plans were advanced but their execution would depend on events on the ground. This was "not like a contingency plan for North Korea, something that sits on a shelf. This planning is like planning for Iraq. They want this plan to be executable - now," one source was quoted as saying.
The newspaper said the US plans were driven partly by concerns over two assassination attempts last month against President Musharraf, whose cooperation has been vital to US anti-terrorism efforts in Afghanistan and who is seen in Washington as a force for stability in the volatile region.
The plans were also prompted by a resurgence of attacks by the Taliban. A US defence official would not confirm the specific operation mentioned in the report, citing a policy against discussing future operations. The official did say that the attempts on Musharraf's life had raised concerns among US authorities.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters US forces staged operations along the Afghan-Pakistan border "all the time," and the American troops in Afghanistan had an "ongoing" offensive against Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants.
The operation is being called "spring offensive" in internal Pentagon messages and a series of planning orders were issued in recent weeks, the newspaper said.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday Musharraf rejected the need for US forces to enter Pakistan to search for Osama. Pakistan's top military spokesman echoed that on Wednesday.-Reuters
