US troops jointly operating with Pak forces since 2009: Leak

KARACHI: US special operation forces had been deployed along with Pakistan forces for joint operations within Pakistani territory in September 2009, said a US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks on Saturday.

Earlier in the summer of 2009, the US special operation forces had been working with Pakistan forces for intelligence gathering.

The Raymond Davis saga followed by Abbottabad operation gave rise to a number of questions in connection with the presence of US troops in Pakistan.

The secret cable released today by WikiLeaks was dispatched to Washington by the then US ambassador in Pakistan Anne W Patterson.

In the cable she mentioned setting up of intelligence fusion cells with the help of special operation forces. These cells would not only cooperate with Pakistan’s Special Services Group (SSG) and Frontier Corps for intelligence gathering but also help in sharing the gathered intelligence.

In this connection, Pakistan had started to get the cooperation of US forces.

Anne W Patterson said the intelligence cell set up in Balahisar in April 2009 had participated in the Pakistan forces’ operation undertaken in Lower Dir.