When Pakistan was almost bombed out of recognition by the US

After the plan was put on hold, the US military decided to put pressure on the Pakistan government.

The United States was ready to launch a massive raid in Pakistan to free an American citizen and her family. The operations was to be carried out by the Navy SEALs had Pakistan not acted against the Haqqani Network, the group that had kidnapped the family five years back.

Had Pakistan not acted it would have been another humiliating episode and a grim reminder of what happened when the US wanted to flush out Osama Bin Laden in 2011. The operation against Osama was conducted by the same Navy SEAL commandos without the knowledge of the Pakistani government.

Officials said that if the Pakistani government did not act decisively to free the family, it would have confirmed their suspicions that it was working in tandem with the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, the New York Times reported.

Caitlan Coleman (31), Joshua Boyle (34), her Canadian husband; and their three children, who were born in captivity, were freed last week after Pakistani military launched an operation with American assistance. The Pakistani officials had acted within hours after the stern warning from US authorities.

The report while citing officials in the US said that Navy SEAL Team 6 was mobilised to conduct a rescue operation. However it was called off later. A CIA drone had reportedly caught the Haqqani network move the family from its camp in northwest Pakistan last month after which the raid was planned.

The risky operation, however, was called off at the last moment as some in the United States government were not certain that the people spotted by the drones were in fact the kidnapped family. There were also concerns about the tough terrain.

After the plan was put on hold, the US military decided to put pressure on the Pakistan government. US President Donald Trump was also briefed that if Islamabad failed to cooperate, the SEALS would go in.

OneIndia News