Islamabad: The United States today handed over eight Cobrahelicopter gunships to Pakistanto boost its capability to conduct operations against extremists.

The refurbished helicopters, specially equipped for night-time operations, werehanded over to Defence Secretary Lt Gen (retired) Tariq Wasim Ghazi by USAmbassador Ryan Crocker at a ceremony at an airbase in Rawalpindi.

The USembassy said they were part of a 50 million- dollar deal for 20 refurbishedhelicopters. Speaking on the occasion, Crocker said the helicopters are"important weapons in our common fight against terrorism".

He said Pakistan would soonget F-16 aircraft it had ordered from the US, which is fulfilling itscommitments to meet the country's security needs under the Security AssistanceProgramme.

The Cobra helicopters were handed over to Pakistan as part of a five-year aidprogramme as indicated by US President George W Bush in 2003.

In the naval sector, Crocker said, the US is carrying out the PC-3 Orionaircraft programme.

The US is not only assistingPakistanin defence but also in socio-economic and other development sectors, he said.

Describing Pakistan as animportant strategic partner of the US, Crocker hoped this long-termpartnership would continue in future. "We are partners in the war onterror. We support each other as we are strategic partners." Heappreciated the role of Pakistan'ssecurity forces and said their participation in UN peacekeeping has attractedaccolades at the global level.