Pakistan army admits ‘shortcomings’

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan – Pakistan’s top army commanders Thursday acknowledged their country’s failure to detect Osama bin Laden’s presence in the garrison city of Abbottabad. But they also warned the United States that any future unauthorized raid would trigger a review of military cooperation between the two countries and ordered a cutback in the number of American troops in Pakistan to “the minimum essential.”

The army’s remarks are its first since U.S. commandos carried out a secret raid early Monday on the compound the al-Qaida leader used as a hideout for five years.

Pakistanis have sharply criticized the military for allowing U.S. military helicopters to violate the country’s airspace without any response.

After chairing a meeting of top commanders, army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani said in a prepared statement that “any similar action violating the sovereignty of Pakistan will warrant a review on the level of military-intelligence cooperation with the United States.”

The statement added that the army had decided to “reduce the strength of U.S. military personnel to the minimum essential,” though it did not elaborate on how many service members would be affected by the cutback. The U.S., which helps train Pakistan’s army and paramilitary troops along the Afghan border, has about 275 declared troops in Pakistan at any given time.

At the same time, the army acknowledged “shortcomings in developing intelligence on the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.” The army announced that it would begin an investigation into why the nation’s intelligence community was unable to discover the al-Qaida leader’s presence in Abbottabad.

Los Angeles Times