Following the orders from top Pakistani military commanders, the US has decided to evacuate its air base at Shamsi in the remote southwestern province of Baluchistan. Pakistan has set December 11 as the deadline for the US to vacate the base.

“The evacuation has already begun and they are on their way out,” said a top Pakistani air force official.

The Pakistani commanders have been seething with anger after the NATO forces carried out a deadly attack on its border on November 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan was not amused by the apologies tendered by the NATO forces for the mistaken attack.

The top military commanders have ordered the US to vacate its base on or before December 11.

The US has been using the base to launch its anti-insurgency operations against Taliban and Al-Qaeda for several years. “We are vacating the base following the orders,” US Ambassador to Islamabad Cameron Munter told journalists in Islamabad. (JUBS)