ISLAMABAD — Pakistan will shoot down any U.S. drone that intrudes its
air space per new directives, a senior Pakistani official told NBC News
on Saturday.



According to the new Pakistani defense policy, “Any object entering into
our air space, including U.S. drones, will be treated as hostile and be
shot down,” a senior Pakistani military official told NBC News.



The policy change comes just weeks after a deadly NATO attack on
Pakistani military checkpoints accidentally killed 24 Pakistani
soldiers, prompting Pakistani officials to order all U.S. personnel out
of a remote airfield in Pakistan.



Pakistan told the U.S. to vacate Shamsi Air Base by December 11.


A senior military official from Quetta, Pakistan, confirmed to NBC News
on Saturday that the evacuation of the base, used for staging classified
drone flights directed against militants, “will be completed tomorrow,”
according to NBC’s Fakhar ur Rehman.



Pakistan’s Frontier Corps security forces took control of the base
Saturday evening after most U.S. military personnel left, Xinhua news
agency reported. Civil aviation officials also moved in Saturday, Xinhua
said.



Pakistani Military Chief Gen Ashfaq Pervez Kayani had issued multiple
directives since the Nov. 26 NATO attack, which included orders to shoot
down U.S. drones, senior military officials confirmed to NBC News on
Saturday.


VIa Heroes Of Pakistan