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US Special Operations Forces have begun venturing out with Pakistani troops in the areas that have so far been restricted to them, the American media reported on Wednesday.
The goal of the mission is to aid local forces and determine the security risks, the Wall Street Journal reported. US troops reportedly wear civilian clothes and are allowed to use their weapons only if they are attacked.
Pakistan has long avoided US military presence and has requested the United States to keep a low profile because it fears that a high-profile presence can be counter-productive.
“Going out in the open, that has negative optics and it is something we have to work out,” a senior Pakistani official told WSJ. “This whole exercise could be counter-productive if people see US boots on the ground.”
Pakistan, however, has gradually allowed US Special Operations Forces in since the first 30 troops arrived in June 2008. Now there are around 120 trainers in the country, with the goal of winning over tribal leaders with development projects.
The US military helps train both the regular military and the paramilitary Frontier Corps. A senior US military official claims that the Special Operations Forces have developed a closer relationship with the Frontier Corps, and go out into the field more frequently with their units.
“The Frontier Corps are more accepting partners,” the official said.
Travelling with the Frontier Corps is dangerous. In February, three army soldiers were killed in the north when a roadside bomb detonated near their convoy.
US officials familiar with the plan told journalists in Washington that the programme for increasing direct US involvement in humanitarian works in some of the restricted areas was “set to expand again with new joint missions to oversee small-scale development projects aimed at winning over tribal leaders”.
The officials said that Special Operations teams joined the aid missions only when commanders determined there’s relatively little security risk, in an effort to avoid direct engagement that would call attention to US participation.
The US Congress recently approved $10 million for aid missions in Pakistan, and one congressional staffer said “the goal is never to have a US footprint on any of these efforts”.
Commenting on Pakistan’s warning that a more visible US military presence could undermine the mission of pacifying the tribal region, WSJ noted: “The US has already aroused local animosity with drone strikes targeting militants in the tribal areas.”
The newspaper, however, claimed that the missile strikes had the tacit support of the Pakistani government and often aids the Pakistani army's campaign against the militants.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/...-wsj-270-hs-04
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