ISLAMABAD: The Obama administration informed Congress on Friday that it planned to sell 160 ambush-proof vehicles to Pakistan at a total cost of $198m.
Pakistani troops in North Waziristan are using over 20 such vehicles, known as MRAPs (Mine Resistance Ambush Protected), in operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda militants, defence sources in Washington said. The vehicles “have been very useful in preventing terrorist attacks on the troops operating in North Waziristan,” the sources said.
However, they added, the sale announced on Friday was separate from “the arrangement for North Waziristan”. Pakistan will also get spare and repair parts for the vehicles. Pakistan had requested expedited delivery of a limited number of MRAPs before Operation Zarb-i-Azb and the United States obliged with about two dozen vehicles from their stock, they added.
US troops also use these vehicles in Afghanistan, where the MRAPs “have proven very effective in preventing ambushes using improvised explosive devices (IEDs),” a defence source said.
Hundreds of US soldiers were killed in IED attacks in Afghanistan before the introduction of these vehicles. “They also saved hundreds of lives in North Waziristan,” the source said.
The US is in the process of moving out its weapons from Afghanistan as it prepares for a complete withdrawal by the end of 2016. But the vehicles delivered to Pakistan did not come from Afghanistan.
The deal notified to Congress on Friday is a mixed package, including vehicles that are already in stock and can be delivered in a month or two and those that will have to be built and delivered, which may take a year. None of these will come from Afghanistan.
The US State Department, which has already approved the sale, informed Congress that the proposed sale would contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the US “by helping to improve the security of a country vital of US foreign policy and national security goals in South Asia”.
The notification also clarified that the sale would have no adverse effect on US defence readiness nor will it disturb the basic military balance in South Asia. Diplomatic sources in Washington noted that the State Department’s nod comes as Pakistan is engaged in Operation Zarb-i-Azb, and has also launched a similar action in Khyber Agency. Internews
