Daily Times

Sir: Being an ex-official of the PAF, I am not ready to digest that due to a foreign aircraft’s intrusion, the jamming of radars or communication systems for such a long time is technically possible. The flight from Bagram airbase to Abbottabad takes 1:10 hours and equally 1:10 hours back, added to the 40-minute operation near the Kakul Military Academy with supposed 10/10 minutes prior to and post jamming; this is more 3:40 hours of a total blackout of communication. The air route from Jalalabad to Abbottabad lies on the Peshawar, Mardan-Risalpur, Ghazi Barotha line where the Peshawar International Airport’s radar system, along with the PAF’s multiple systems and other systems are interlinked to support each other, simultaneously work and indicate within seconds if any kind of failure, halt or fault occurs. The ever-alert technicians, watching round the clock, routinely report on hotlines and, in case of failures, through cables, to senior authorities within no time.

Another aspect is the fact that the route from Jalalabad to Abbottabad lies on the international and local air route; any kind of communication blackout may cause fatal air accidents, which is unimaginable. The CIA chief’s claim that the operation was kept secret because they did not trust us is a slap on our face, but his claim does not seem true because Obama and Hillary have publicly admitted that this operation was executed successfully with Pakistan’s help. It needs an inquiry within the staff handling the radar systems and the officers on duty during that time. Keeping aside the notion that someone from inside helped the Americans, this is a matter of satisfaction that if technically it is not possible, then it means the question of capability and capacity of our security apparatus cannot be raised. One finds a reason behind not publicly owning the killing of Osama, but the media must be aware of the fact that the vulnerabilities of the country should not be highlighted in such a manner that it helps one way or the other the international media, that has opened all its guns to malign Pakistan, its government and its security agencies.

ESCHMALL SARDAR

Peshawar