Pakistan Says U.S. Vacates Airbase, Meeting Deadline
Pakistan’s military says the United States has vacated a base following a deadline given by Islamabad in protest at U.S. airstrikes two weeks ago.
The Shamsi airbase in the southwestern province of Baluchistan was believed to have been used in CIA drone attacks against Taliban and Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan’s tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
Following the November airstrikes which killed 24 Pakistani troops on the Afghan border, Islamabad also blocked American and NATO convoys into Afghanistan via Pakistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said the blocking may continue for several weeks.