ISLAMABAD — The United States said Friday that it had nearly completed a drawdown in military personnel from Pakistan as demanded by Islamabad when relations plummeted over the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Vice Admiral Michael LeFever, US defence representative in Pakistan, made the announcement in a statement released by the US embassy in Islamabad, but left the door open to future security assistance.
"We recently received a written request from the government of Pakistan to reduce the number of US military personnel here and we have nearly completed that reduction," said LeFever.
"We've been honoured to partner with the Pakistan military and we believe our service members here provide excellent support to Pakistan's military in the fight against violent extremists."
US officials in Islamabad have declined to put a number on the reduction but a Pakistani security official previously told AFP it would leave fewer than 40 out of "130 trainers and technical support".
On Thursday, Pakistan's military said it had "drastically cut down the strength of US troops" stationed in the country and insisted it had only accepted US training on new weapons and for the paramilitary Frontier Corps.
The withdrawal underscored the crisis between Washington and Islamabad in the aftermath of a unilateral US raid that killed bin Laden on May 2, despite US diplomatic efforts to smooth over tensions.
But even before the operation, Pakistani officials reportedly told the Americans they wanted about 20 to 30 of the roughly 150 special forces troops to be withdrawn after a CIA employee shot and killed two Pakistanis in Lahore.
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