http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/02/ap_pakistan_training_021110/
Associated Press February 11, 2010 Source says U.S. to expand training in Pakistan By Lolita C. Baldor WASHINGTON: The U.S. military is planning to set up new training centers inside Pakistan where American special operations trainers would work with Pakistani forces close to the Afghan border battle zone, a senior defense official said. The new centers would supplement two already operating in Pakistan, and they would be used to accelerate and expand the training of Pakistani forces....The plan would give U.S. forces closer access.... Staffing the new centers will require an increase in the more than 100 U.S. special operations forces in Pakistan for the training effort, but Pentagon officials do not yet know how much of a boost will be needed, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about internal discussions. U.S. officials see their effort to train Pakistan’s forces, which includes the country’s paramilitary Frontier Corps, its Special Service Group commandos and its Army, as a growing success. [T]he training has [given] elite U.S. special operations forces better access to the rugged border region.... At the same time, the small but growing numbers of American troops inside Pakistan have also become targets. Last week, three U.S. special operations soldiers participating in that low-profile program were killed and two others wounded by a roadside bomb. They were the first known U.S. military fatalities in nearly three years in Pakistan's Afghan border region. .... Military aid to Pakistan...could grow to $1.2 billion under the Obama administration’s 2011 budget plan.... .... The plan now is to build a number of smaller training centers in the Northwest Frontier Province, closer to the Pakistani forces. The official said the creation of new centers will depend on when and where they can be constructed in the difficult mountain region. Combat operations are expected to escalate as the weather improves. .... U.S. officials have said they hope to train more than 9,000 members of the Frontier Corps and slash their previous four-year training time by half. .... =========================== Stop NATO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stopnato Blog site: http://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/ To subscribe, send an e-mail to: rwroz...@yahoo.com or stopnato-subscr...@yahoogroups.com Daily digest option available. ==============================
