U.S., Pakistan Military Coordination Improves

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2012 – In a sign of improving coordination between the United States and Pakistan, two U.S. military liaison officers recently returned to Pakistan, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby told reporters today.

The officers returned to Pakistan at the request of the Pakistani government, Kirby said.

The posting is part of the effort to improve tactical and operational coordination between the International Security Assistance Force and the Pakistani military, Kirby said. The purpose is to “increase and improve communication between the two militaries along that border,” he added.

The liaison officers left Pakistan following last November’s cross-border incident, Kirby said.

Inadequate coordination was cited as one cause in a DOD review of the incident in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed after coalition troops operating in Kunar province, Afghanistan, were fired upon from border positions within Pakistan.

Based in Peshawar, Pakistan, the liaison officers are working with the headquarters staff of the Pakistani army’s 11th Corps, Kirby said.

The 11th Corps’ area of responsibility, he said, includes the border region that matches up with Regional Command East on the Afghanistan side.