Osama dead: Pakistan scrambled fighter jets thinking it was Indian attack

NEW DELHI: As Navy Seals unleashed its offensive at the compound that housed Osama bin Laden , there were worries in the US administration that Pakistan would mistake it for an Indian attack. President Barack Obama’s counter-terrorism advisor John Brennan told reporters in Washington that Pakistanis had even “scrambled” their fighter planes when they sniffed something was afoot at Abbottabad.

It was the swiftness of the Navy operations that prevented Pakistanis from any misadventure. “The Pakistanis were reacting to an incident that they knew was taking place in Abbottabad. Therefore, they were scrambling some of their assets,” Brennan said while speaking on the operational details of the Abbottabad mission. “We were concerned that if the Pakistanis decided to scramble jets or whatever else... They had no idea about who might have been in there, whether it be US or somebody else. So we were watching and making sure that our people and our aircraft were able to get out of Pakistani airspace . And thankfully, there was no engagement with Pakistani forces,” he said.