U.S. Friction With Pakistan and Eviction (2011)
On 13 May 2011, following the Abbotabad Incident of 2 May 2011, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) confirmed, in an in-camera briefing to a joint sitting of the Pakistani Parliament, that Shamsi was not under the control of the PAF, but under UAE control.
In June 2011, Pakistan publicly ordered the US to remove all its personnel from the airfield. The United States and Pakistan announced a few days later that drone operations from the airfield had actually ceased in April 2011.
On 26 November 2011, Pakistan ordered the United States to vacate the base within 15 days in response to the Salala Incident, in which US military aircraft attacked two Pakistani border checkposts 2.5 km inside Pakistani territory and killed 24 Pakistani troops. Although drone operations originating at the base had ceased in April 2011, the US was apparently still using the airfield for emergency landings and logistical support.
On 4 December 2011, the first US military aircraft arrived at Shamsi to evacuate US military personnel and equipment. A total of seven US military aircraft, including C-17 Globemasters, landed at Shamsi in the coming week for evacuation purposes and US equipment and personnel were evacuated in 30 sorties. On 9 December 2011, soldiers of Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary arrived at the nearby village of Washuk to position themselves to retake Shamsi. All roads to and from Shamsi were closed. Some US equipment was destroyed by the US military. The US finally vacated Shamsi on 11 December 2011 with two flights carrying the remaining US soldiers and equipment. Soldiers of the Pakistan Army, the Frontier Constabulary and officials of Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority immediately took control of the airfield. A photograph of the airfield taken on 11 December 2011 and officially released by the Pakistani military's Directorate of Inter-Services Public Relations and published in the British The Telegraph newspaper shows Pakistan Army soldiers and a Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 helicopter at Shamsi shortly after the US vacated the airfield.
Read more about this topic: Shamsi Airfield, History
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