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Pakistan
Admits Presence Of U.S. Troops In Sindh
KARACHI,
Oct 13 (Islam Online) - Government officials in Pakistan admitted Friday for the
first time, the presence of U.S. troops in its Sindh and Balochistan provinces
saying that they are only for logistic support purposes.
Earlier,
all the reports published and broadcast by local and foreign media have been
categorically denied by the government.
"Some
U.S. troops are at Jaccobabad (Sindh) and Pasni (Balochistan) airports. I don't
know about figures but am sure they are not too many", Governor Sindh Mian
Muhammad Soomro said adding, "They (U.S. troops) are not using Pakistani
airports to attack Afghanistan. They are here only for logistic support".
However,
he did not provide further details or comments, especially on the reports that
U.S. aircrafts are being fueled at Pasni and Jaccobabad airports.
Talking
to editors of local newspapers and wire services at Governor House, he dispelled
the possibility of the arrival of U.S. marine force at Karachi seaport or any
other port of Sindh province.
The
governor said that all Afghan people trickling into Pakistan due to the U.S. air
strikes on Afghanistan would not be given the official status of
"refugees", and would be restricted to border areas in the North
Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan till the war ended.
"None
of the new refugees will be allowed to enter Sindh or any other province of the
country", Soomro said while quoting the decision taken by the federal
cabinet Friday chaired by President General Pervez Musharaf.
"The
cabinet has decided that these refugees would be restricted to the newly
established camps on the country's northern and south-eastern border areas and
they will be sent back to their homeland at the end of the war", he
maintained.
To
another question raised by an editor regarding the alleged training camps in
Sindh where Mujahiddin are being trained to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan in
case of a ground attack, the governor said: "No such camps will be allowed
in the province".
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