<

U.S. Military Personnel Deployed in Pakistan
Thursday, October 11, 2001
(5:34 AM ET)
Reuters

"We have appealed to the people to observe Friday as a protest day against the presence of American aircraft and troops at Jacobabad airfield.”

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Reuters
Pakistan said on Thursday U.S. military personnel had arrived in the country but stressed it was committed to providing only logistical support for the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan.

News of the deployment, the first on Pakistani soil, came after the most intense night of bombing on neighboring Afghanistan since U.S. raids on the Taliban and their guest, Osama bin Laden, began on Sunday night.

A leading radical pro-Taliban Islamic group said it was calling protests on Friday against the presence of U.S. forces on Pakistani soil.

Asked if U.S. military personnel were already on the ground, government spokesman Major-General Rashid Qureshi told Reuters: "I don't think they're combat troops."

Pakistan, he said, was providing logistical support to the United States as it led military strikes against Taliban targets in Afghanistan.
(More: iWon.com News Source)
1999, 2000, 2001 © iWon, Inc.

Dan