The United States recently donated a number of water trucks, field artillery cannon and patrol boats to the Pakistani government, according to U.S. State Department news releases.

Four water trucks were provided to the Pakistani Army’s special services group Feb. 12. The next day, Pakistan’s maritime security agency obtained five American fast-patrol boats, while the Pakistani army received 48 self-propelled field artillery cannon.

The water trucks will be employed in humanitarian relief missions in Pakistan’s South Waziristan region. The boats will enhance Pakistan’s coastal interdiction and patrol capabilities. And, the cannon will be used by Pakistani government forces to combat terrorists that operate in its homeland.

“These field artillery cannons are an important part of enhancing the capabilities of Pakistan’s army as it continues to wage its courageous fight against terrorists who seek to destroy Pakistan’s people and way of life,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Nagata, U.S. Office of the Defense Representative-Pakistan deputy commander, as he officially handed over the M1095A5 howitzers to Pakistani Army Brig. Gen. Farrukh Saeed, commander of the 25th Mechanized Artillery Division.

Nagata also participated in ceremonies featuring the turning over of the water trucks and fast boats to Pakistani senior military officials.

Pakistan is slated to receive another four fast-patrol boats later this year.

“Whether it’s search-and-rescue, combating smugglers, preventing crime or protecting Pakistan’s coastal areas, we hope the increased capabilities these boats provide greatly enhance the MSA’s ability to conduct the full spectrum of maritime operations,” Nagata said during the handover ceremony in Karachi Feb. 13.

During the past three years, U.S. civilian and military assistance to Pakistan has totaled more than $4 billion. Assistance provided and delivered has included support for medical aid, school refurbishment, bridge and well reconstruction, food distribution, agricultural and education projects, 14 F-16 fighter aircraft, 10 Mi-17 helicopters, more than 450 vehicles for Pakistan’s Frontier Corps, hundreds of night-vision goggles, day/night scopes, radios, and thousands of protective vests and first-aid items for Pakistan’s security forces.

In addition, the United States has funded and provided training for more than 370 Pakistani military officers in a wide range of leadership and development programs, covering topics such as counterterrorism, intelligence, logistics, medical operations, flight safety and military law.

Keeping the border safe and secure, U.S. troops are working with Afghans to protect border cities to Pakistan.

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Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) is ready to carry out airborne suicide attacks using para-gliders in India, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

The intelligence reports on the LeT’s shopping spree for paragliding equipment in different European countries, including Germany, prompted authorities to ensure tight air security around all vital installations and nearly 326 unmanned, abandoned or mostly unused airstrips spread across the country. The intelligence also suggest the possibility of LeT acquiring related equipment – possibly Chinese made – from within Pakistan.

According to the NACOP acquired report, India’s security agencies have already carried out mock drills in different areas of the country as part of the exercise to prevent airborne suicide attacks by LeT terrorists.

According to intelligence reports, terrorist groups having allegiance to al-Qaeda, Lashker-e-Taiba and Jamat-ul-Dawa were planning to hijack an Air India plane especially operating in or from the countries of Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

India’s civil aviation ministry has directed all the airlines especially Air India to take extra steps besides asking Bureau of civil aviation security to deploy sky marshals on aircraft operating on such routes, the sources said.

The USS San Jacinto left Virginia for a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is spending a second day in Pakistan meeting with the country’s military and political leaders.

The United States plans to provide Pakistan RQ-7 Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles to support their fight on extremists, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates confirmed today during a roundtable session with Pakistani reporters, according to AFPS’ Donna Miles.

The United States has been working with the Pakistani military for more than a year to enhance its own ISR capabilities, Gates said. “We share a lot of information that we acquire on the Afghan side of the border and from our satellites, but we also are trying to help the Pakistanis build their own capabilities.”

In addition to the drones themselves, the United States also will provide training and other capabilities required to “coordinate these platforms and be able to get the maximum possible value out of them,” Gates said.

The secretary first alluded to the new initiative last night, during an interview with Pakistani television reporters, but did not specifically mention the Shadow models, or the fact that a decision had been made about providing them, until today.

A senior defense official traveling with Gates told reporters the United States will provide 12 of the unarmed aircraft to help Pakistan in its offensive on extremists.

“We are trying to do everything we can to assist Pakistan in the fight in the west,” Gates told reporters today.

Funding would come from congressionally appropriated counter-insurgency funds Gates said enable the Defense Department to quickly provide equipment or training to help the Pakistanis in the fight.

The United States has been working with the Pakistani military for more than a year to enhance its own ISR capabilities, Gates said. “We share a lot of information that we acquire on the Afghan side of the border and from our satellites, but we also are trying to help the Pakistanis build their own capabilities,” he said.

Shadow UAVs are extremely popular within the U.S. Army, providing warfighters better situational awareness in their operations.

The Shadows are relatively small, with a 14-foot wingspan, and have an ability to oversee specific sites and feed video images.

Both India and Pakistan have a big stake in what happens in Afghanistan, and are playing significant roles to support the effort there, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today.

Still, it’s critical that both countries maintain full transparency to allay each other’s suspicions, Gates told reporters following a meeting here with Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony. Gates appeared to discount the notion that India contribute troops to serve in Afghanistan, according to AFPS’ Donna Miles.

“The kind of support – and extraordinary support – that India is providing in Afghanistan now is really ideal,” Gates said. “It is significant support,” about $1.3 billion for power, medicine, agriculture and education projects.

India is willing to do more, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna told Gates during meetings yesterday, a senior defense official who attended the sessions told reporters on background.

The offer, however, came with a caveat in light of sensitivities regarding neighboring Pakistan.

India will offer more assistance, but only “if ISAF, [the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan] and the United States think it would be helpful,” the official said Indian leaders told Gates.

“Let’s be honest with one another,” Gates told reporters today. “There are real suspicions in both India and Pakistan about what the other is doing in Afghanistan. And so I think each country focusing its efforts on development, on humanitarian assistant, perhaps in some limited areas of training – but with full transparency for each other in what they are doing – will allay these suspicions and frankly, create opportunities to provide bigger help for the Afghan government.”

Gates said it’s “important to recognize the magnitude of the threat the entire region faces” with al Qaida and its various splinter groups that form a terror “syndicate.”

Their operations are intended to destabilize, not just Afghanistan or Pakistan, but the entire region, he said.

“A victory for one is a victory for all,” he said.

Facing up to this “requires a high level of cooperation among us all,” Gates said.

While visiting Washington in November, Singh joined President Barack Obama in signing a memo of understanding committing to closer counterterrorism cooperation.
Gates’ talks here focused on bolstering India’s role in promoting security in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the entire South Asia region, while deepening counterterrorism cooperation and expanding an already-robust military-to-military relationship.

“India can be an anchor for regional and global security,” he said.
During today’s news conference, Gates called his visit here another step toward expanding the two countries’ defense relationship within the framework of a broad strategic partnership.
Gates said he has been struck by how much the U.S.-India relationship has grown, and the many opportunities to continue to build on that foundation.

During Gates’ sessions here, he emphasized that the United States’ commitment to India and the entire region is long-term.

“We intend to be a productive part of regional security development and economic develop and political development in the future,” a senior official said Gates told the Indian leaders. “We intend to be involved in the region for a very long time.”

The message “resonated very well” with Indian leaders, he said.

On a rugged mountaintop bordering Pakistan, less than two miles from Northern Waziristan, sits Combat Outpost Chergotah in Afghanistan’s Khost province.

Here, U.S. Army soldiers work with Afghan border policemen to sustain border security and maintain peace among local people. The soldiers and policemen secure the area with a fierce drive and a wealth of firepower.

“At Chergotah, we help provide security for Afghan contractors building the [combat outpost], and my duty as a gunner is to make sure that if we are attacked, I gain fire superiority as quick as possible to eliminate the threat, using heavy weaponry,” said Army Spc. Ryan Harris.

Harris serves as a heavy weapons gunner with Company D, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 25th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Richardson, Alaska.

Mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles with common remotely operated weapons stations, reports AFPS’ Air Force Staff Sgt. Stephen Otero, are a vital piece of weaponry to keep security within the area. Heavy-weapons platforms such as .50-caliber machine guns and Mark 19 grenade launchers are combined with precision computer video targeting systems controlled from behind a 10-inch screen that the gunner observes while tucked inside the vehicle.

While the advanced weaponry gives the soldiers the advantage against insurgents, they routinely leave the protection of their MRAP vehicles to connect with the local people. The unit conducts daily, dismounted security patrols led by the platoon sergeant and platoon leader.

“My duty as a platoon sergeant is to take care of my men,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph De Lage, a platoon sergeant with Company D. “I do this by resupplying them with food, water, ammo, and by ensuring they have a good security plan in place to protect themselves and their Afghan counterparts.”

While the platoon sergeant works to ensure the safety of his soldiers and the Afghan border policemen, the impact the servicemembers have on the area’s civilian population is not lost.

“I believe our presence makes a difference locally,” De Lage said.

Army 1st Lt. Jason Cumiford, a platoon leader in Company D, said the soldiers and policemen must find the best way to secure the trust of local residents. They find the enemy, separate them from residents, and defeat them.

However, Cumiford added, the U.S. soldiers’ most important task is to ensure the Afghan border police are competent, well trained and able to defeat the enemy by themselves, and that they are trusted by the Afghan people.