Pakistan suspends NATO supply route to Afghanistan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pakistan has temporarily stopped NATO supply trucks crossing its northwestern border into Afghanistan over security concerns due to fears of Islamist attacks, officials said Thursday, July 26, according to AFP.

Gunmen on Tuesday attacked a convoy of NATO supply trucks, killing a driver, in the town of Jamrud near the main northwestern city of Peshawar, in the first such attack since Pakistan lifted a seven-month blockade of the border.

"Movement of NATO vehicles has been temporarily suspended since Wednesday evening to beef up security," a paramilitary official said. "We have launched a search operation in the hills surrounding Jamrud."

On Wednesday officials at the northwestern Torkham crossing had said traffic was picking up for the first time since the blockade ended, with more than 100 vehicles crossing in recent days.

Local administration official Bakhtiar Khan confirmed Thursday the supply route had been suspended due to "security reasons".

"Intelligence officials have informed the authority that attacks may occur on NATO vehicles this week and in the light of this a security plan is being chalked out," Khan said.

He said the NATO route would "resume very soon", but that until then trucks carrying supplies for the 130,000-strong U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan had been told not to approach the border.

So far, the closure has only affected the Torkham crossing.

At the southwestern crossing of Chaman, some 17 trucks were awaiting clearance to enter Afghanistan and 20 other trucks were parked in Quetta.

Islamabad closed its land routes to NATO convoys after US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26, but reopened them after Washington said sorry for the deaths.

Before the blockade, around 150 trucks crossed into Afghanistan each day at Torkham - the closest border crossing to Kabul - and officials say the flow will rise to up to 300 a day.