Pakistan has warned that any US drone that intrudes its air space will be shot down. Pakistan will shoot down any US drone that intrudes its air space as per new directives, a senior Pakistani official told NBC News.
According to the new Pakistani defense policy, "Any object entering into our air space, including US drones, will be treated as hostile and be shot down," a senior Pakistani military official told NBC News.The policy change comes just weeks after a deadly NATO attack on a military checkpoint which killed 24 soldiers, prompting Pakistani officials to order all US personnel out of a remote airfield in Pakistan.
A senior military official from Quetta, confirmed to NBC News that the evacuation of the base, used for staging classified drone flights directed against militants, “will be completed on Sunday.
Pakistan s Frontier Corps security forces took control of the base Saturday evening after most US military personnel left. Civil aviation officials also moved.
The Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had issued multiple directives since the Nov. 26 NATO attack, which included orders to shoot down US drones, senior military officials confirmed to NBC News.
It was unclear whether orders to fire upon incoming US drones was part of the initial orders.
