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| India-Pakistan |
| 'Taliban can choke NATO supply lines' |
| 2009-05-01 |
| There is potential for the Taliban not only to expand suicide attacks in Pakistan but also to put greater pressure on the routes ferrying supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan, analysts say. The new US plan calls for increasing troop levels in Afghanistan. More troops will require more supplies. And the most viable overland supply lines run through Pakistan. Seventy percent of Western supplies to NATO forces pass through the Tribal Areas. The supplies are offloaded in Karachi and trucked to depots in Peshawar, then through the Khyber Pass to Kabul. The Khyber Pass is particularly vulnerable. Blowing up a bridge there can shut down convoy traffic for days. This has happened seven times since September. The depots and terminals in Peshawar have also been plagued by suspected Taliban sabotage. The convoys are not escorted by US or Pakistani forces. The United States uses Pakistani security contractors. STRATFOR analyst Kamran Bokhari suggests that the Pakistan Army should be involved. "If the army is doing it or is in charge of ferrying all these supplies and making sure they reach their destinations, there is a monetary incentive in that because there's a lot of money involved and the military will get a cut in that." System: Brian Cloughley, a former Australian army military attaché in Islamabad, says the system is riddled with corruption among the contractors. "There's quite a lot of underhanded manoeuvring concerning contracts and, of course, the actual passage of vehicles because one contractor can perhaps say, 'Right, if you are not going to pay me off, I will ensure that your convoy is torched'," he said. Lt-Gen (r) Ali Aurakzai, the former NWFP governor, says that even if the supplies are not weapons-related, the routing of NATO convoys through the province is resented among local tribes. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 and didn't secure right too ship supplies through Russia and Kryzstan(sp) |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-05-01 14:10 |
| #3 Anyone else remember something about an army in a pocket in asia only being able to be supplied by airlift? |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2009-05-01 12:39 |
| #2 WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC INDIA: CHINA HAS COVERTLY BUILT UP SEVERAL HUNDRED ADVANCED STRIKE AIRCRAFT [300-500], PLA GROUND TROOPS IN TIBET [Lanzhou Mil Region]??? Also, ISRAELI MIL FORUM > THE DAWN OF AN ISLAMIC REVOLUTION IS AROUND THE CORNER [New Era of GLOBAL ISLAMIC RENNAISSANCE]. "Slavery's Shackles", espec to West, is Breaking, the Enemies of Islam are in retreat. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-05-01 00:33 |
| #1 PAKISTAN DEFENSE FORUM > OBAMA: US HAS "HUGE INTERESTS" IN PAKISTAN. MILITARY INTERVENTION BY US NOT RULED OUT TO SECURE PAKISTANI NUCLEAR WEAPONS; + OBAMA "CONFIDENT" PAKISTAN CAN SECURE ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-05-01 00:27 |