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Pakistan suspends NATO supply line
Pakistan suspends a supply line to NATO forces in Afghanistan after the Taliban burned into ashes about 150 NATO trucks in north-west Pakistan. The decision came just hours after a logistics terminal in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, where dozens of trucks carrying Humvees and other military vehicles were parked, was attacked by insurgents on Sunday. More than 300 Taliban militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles burned down the logitics terminal. Earlier in November Pakistan suspended traffic through the Khyber road -connecting Pakistan to Afghanistan- for several days after Taliban-linked militants hijacked more than a dozen trucks on the their way to Afghanistan. The Khyber road from Pakistan's Peshawar to Afghanistan is a major supply route for US and Western forces fighting against the Taliban insurgents. There have been a series of attacks on US and NATO convoys recently - although not on this scale. Sunday's raid is being described by many security experts in the region as the most serious of such recent attacks. It has fueled concerns that Taliban insurgents are tightening their hold in Pakistan's tribal belt and could choke the supply route. The al-Qaeda and Taliban linked militants holed up in the volatile north-west Pakistan have threatened to cut the supply line if US forces in Afghanistan continue strikes on their hideouts. The move would greatly hamper the operations of the US-led forces against the Taliban militants in Afghanistan, experts say. More than 70,000 foreign troops under the command of NATO and the US military are stationed in Afghanistan where the Taliban has made a come back since 2005. Pakistan's tribal areas are seen as a safe haven for Taliban militants, after a US-led invasion toppled their regime in Afghanistan in 2001. Posted by: Fred 2008-12-08 |
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