The United States has built backup bases in Afghanistan after vacating Shamsi air base in Pakistan, The Washington Times reported on Monday.
Pakistan’s decision to evict the United States from a predator-drone launching base will have little impact on the CIA’s ability to strike terrorists in the country’s austere tribal areas because the U.S. built backup bases in Afghanistan, a senior defense official said.
The official added that the U.S. military and CIA had built the launching strips in Afghanistan in anticipation of the day when Pakistan wanted U.S. forces out of the Shamsi facility run by Pakistan’s intelligence service.
Pakistan ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi base and shut down a vital supply line to NATO forces in Afghanistan after NATO air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in a cross-border air strike on November 26.