CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says there are no plans to deploy U.S. ground troops to Pakistan despite concerns over increasing violence between Pakistani troops and Taliban militants.
Speaking to about 300 Marines at Camp Leatherneck in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, Gates assured them they wouldn’t be fighting in the neighbouring sovereign nation.
During a 12-minute question-and-answer session in sweltering heat, Gates told a sergeant he didn’t have to “worry about going to Pakistan.”
Gates also told the Marines that the Pentagon was working on getting troops more time at home between deployments in battle zones.
