American military playing expanded role in Pakistan

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

* Proposal to give Special Operations $10 million for quick projects

WASHINGTON: US Special Operations Forces on a training mission in Pakistan are playing an expanded but largely unseen role in the country’s counterinsurgency campaign, working with paramilitary units to “hold and build” the Tribal Areas as militants are cleared out.

US defence and administration officials say the elite trainers, who currently number more than 100, have not and are not authorised to take part in Pakistani military offensives in the tribal regions. Pakistan has balked at US offers of joint military operations there, officials said on condition of anonymity.

But Special Ops trainers play a bigger role than has been widely disclosed in helping Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps, such as surveying and coordinating projects aimed at winning “hearts and minds” and preventing the Taliban from returning to areas once they have been pushed out.

A new Pentagon proposal would deepen that role by creating a special $10 million pool of funds the trainers could spend more quickly on civil affairs and humanitarian projects in FATA in coordination with their Pakistani counterparts.

US defence and administration officials spoke about the training programme and the new proposal on condition of anonymity because, as one said, the relatively small American military presence is such a “radioactive” issue in Pakistan.

US and Pakistani officials worry that detailed disclosures about the role of Special Ops could compromise operational security, spark a backlash among Pakistanis against their government and fuel already high anti-American sentiment. reuters