WASHINGTON – Pakistan and the United States continued to work closely inthe fight against terrorism, said US Air Force Lieutenant General JeffreyHarrigian, who is the commander of US Air Force Central Command.
He was addressing a Pentagon press briefing through a video-conference thisweek from the Combined Air Operations Center at Al Udeid Airbase, Qatar,from where he commands U.S. Air Forces Central Command.
“So, we continue to work closely with our Pakistan partners,” he said whilereplying to a question. “And what I will tell you is, first off, our intentis to make sure that Pakistan continues their fight against terrorists anddoes all that they can to support, not only protecting themselves, but alsoprotecting coalition and Afghan partners that are operating there.”
As the air component commander for U.S. Central Command, the general isresponsible for developing contingency plans and conducting air operationsin a 20-nation area of responsibility, covering Central and Southwest Asia.
To a question about the close air support mission in Afghanistan, theGeneral said that his command had been able to work closely with theResolute Support headquarters to understand their requirements and thenprovide that air support that’s necessary to support the Afghan partners onthe ground and our delivered air campaign.
The General told a questioner that his air command did use F-22s Raptoraircraft to drop Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) on terrorist targets when thenew offense kicked-off in November, but added that since then these fighterjets have not been used for strikes inside Afghanistan.
“We look at targets, we’re going to match the best weapon for thatparticular target. And based on the assets that we had at that time intheater, Raptors made the most sense,” the General said adding it was hisresponsibility to make sure that appropriate assets are available tosupport US forces in Afghanistan. – APP