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| 24 March 2004 | Wednesday | 02 Safar 1425 |
American technology helping hunt for Al Qaeda men
WASHINGTON, March 23: The United States is supporting Pakistan's hunt for Al Qaeda by providing spy satellites, electronic-eavesdropping planes and special ground sensors, The New York Times said on Tuesday.
"We're trying to meet whatever requests they have," US military officials here and in Asia told the daily. Besides providing 'blocking positions' at strategic places along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan to stop or kill Al Qaeda fighters fleeing from the Pakistani army, US military sensors are peering across the mountains into Pakistan to help in the hunt.
The US helps Pakistan track enemy movements with spy satellites, Air Force E-8C Joint Stars ground-surveillance jets and remotely piloted Predator aircraft track enemy movements.
They also eavesdrop on enemy fighters with RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft that scoop up cellphone calls and other electronic transmissions. U-2 spy planes soar high overhead.
Pakistan has also received US helicopters, specialized training and sophisticated ground sensors that can count vehicles on mountain roads and measure their loads by sensing their vibrations.
Although no US troops physically participate in the military offensive in northwestern Pakistan, small units from Joint Task Force 121, which captured former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein last year, have been conducting some cross-border operations, the military officials said.
A senior US military officer in Afghanistan said US forces had been authorized in the past to pursue enemy forces into Pakistan as long as they maintained "continuous contact" with the fighters. -AFP
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