Shamsi Airfield
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Shamsi Airfield, also known as Bhandari Airstrip, is an airfield situated about 200 miles (320 km) southwest of
Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...
and about 248 miles (400 km) northwest of
Gwadar Gwadar ( Balochi/ ur, ) is a port city with located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. Gwadar is the 100th largest city of Pakistan, according to the 2017 ...
in the
Balochistan province Balochistan (; bal, بلۏچستان; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land ...
of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. The airfield is located in
Washuk District Washuk District ( Balochi and Urdu: ) is a district in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Washuk, the district headquarters, is located at the center of the district. Administration Washuk District was once part of Kharan District in Balochista ...
and nestled in a barren desert valley between two ridges of the
Central Makran Range The Central Makran Range is a mountain range in the Makran region, in southwestern section of Balochistan (Pakistan), Balochistan Province, in southwestern Pakistan. Geography It is one of three ranges in the mountain ranges system. The range's ...
approximately 21 miles (35 km) southeast of the village of Washuk. Shrouded in secrecy, Shamsi was leased by Pakistan to the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
in 1992 for game hunting purposes and, between 20 October 2001 and 11 December 2011, it was leased to the United States for use as a base for joint
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
(CIA) and
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
(USAF) surveillance and drone operations (particularly those involving
Predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
drones) against militants in Pakistan's
Federally Administered Tribal Areas , conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas , nation = Pakistan , subdivision = Autonomous territory , image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg , image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...
. The United States was ordered to vacate the airfield by the Pakistani Government on 26 November 2011 after the Salala Incident in which US-led NATO forces attacked two Pakistani border checkposts in Pakistan's
Federally Administered Tribal Areas , conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas , nation = Pakistan , subdivision = Autonomous territory , image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg , image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...
killing 24
Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...
soldiers. The United States vacated the airfield on 11 December 2011.


History


Lease by the United Arab Emirates (1992–2001)

The disused Bhandari Airstrip was leased to the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
(UAE) by the
Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...
in 1992 for game hunting, particularly that of falconry and rare
Bustards Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bustards ...
in Balochistan province, by members of the UAE royal families. The airstrip, which was renamed "Shamsi" (meaning "Solar" in Arabic) by the Emirati Sheikhs, was developed into a jet-capable airfield by the UAE.Khan, Air Marshal (Retd.) Ayaz Ahmed, "Shamsi Air Base", ''Defence Journal'', November 2007, Volume 11, No. 4, Karachi, Pakistan


Lease by the United States (2001–2011)

At the request of the United States, Shamsi was sub-leased by the UAE to the United States on 20 October 2001 with the approval of then-President
Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
and was further developed jointly by the CIA and the USAF as a military airfield. The US constructed two permanent and one portable
hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
s at Shamsi for housing drones, in addition, to support and residential facilities, and recarpeted the asphalt runway to enable its use by large and heavy military aircraft. On the night of 9 January 2002, a
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
KC-130 The Lockheed Martin (previously Lockheed) KC-130 is a family of the extended-range tanker version of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft. The KC-130J is the latest variant operated by the United States Marine Corps (USMC), with 48 delivered ...
R refueling aircraft crashed after hitting a ridgeline on approach to Shamsi, possibly due to crew disorientation, resulting in the deaths of all seven crew members on board. In February 2009, ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' (London) claimed that it had obtained
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images from 2006 that showed Predator drones parked outside a hangar at the end of the runway at Shamsi. The ''Times'' investigation was in response to a statement by US Senator
Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
that the CIA was basing its drone aircraft in Pakistan. The US company Blackwater was also reported to have a presence there, hired by the government to arm the drones with missiles. The Pakistani Government had initially denied that the airfield was being used as a base for US military or covert operations but confirmed the same later. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' cited a senior Pakistani military official as saying that in 2009 the drone operations were moved across the border to Afghanistan.


US friction with Pakistan and eviction (2011)

On 13 May 2011, following the
killing of Osama bin Laden On May 2, 2011, Osama bin Laden, the founder and first leader of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was shot several times and killed at his compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, by United States Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Sp ...
of 2 May 2011, Air Chief Marshal
Rao Qamar Suleman Rao Qamar Suleman, (Urdu: راؤ قمر سلیمان) was the 12th Chief of Air Staff of the Pakistan Air Force. The four-star ranked general commanded the PAF from 2009 to 2012. Earlier, Suleman served as Deputy Chief of Air Staff of Operati ...
, Chief of the Air Staff,
Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...
(PAF) confirmed, in an
in-camera ''In camera'' (; Latin: "in a chamber"). is a legal term that means ''in private''. The same meaning is sometimes expressed in the English equivalent: ''in chambers''. Generally, ''in-camera'' describes court cases, parts of it, or process wh ...
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 The Frontier Constabulary ( ur, ) is a federal paramilitary force of Pakistan under the control of the Interior Secretary of Pakistan, which is largely drawn from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but operates in several districts of Pakistan. It i ...
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 A civil aviation authority (CAA) is a national or supranational statutory authority that oversees the regulation of civil aviation, including the maintenance of an aircraft register. Role Due to the inherent dangers in the use of flight vehicles, ...
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 The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) ( ur, ), is the media and PR wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It broadcasts and coordinates military news and information to the country's civilian media and the civic society. The ISPR directo ...
and published in the British ''The Telegraph'' newspaper shows Pakistan Army soldiers and a Pakistan Army
Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...
helicopter at Shamsi shortly after the US vacated the airfield.


See also

* Umm Al Melh Border Guards Airport


Notes


Sources

* * * * * {{Authority control Airports in Balochistan, Pakistan Pakistan–United Arab Emirates relations Installations of the Central Intelligence Agency Inter-Services Intelligence Government of Yousaf Raza Gillani Military installations in Balochistan, Pakistan Government of Pakistan secrecy Military bases of the United Arab Emirates in Pakistan Military installations of the United States in Pakistan