...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
forces fighting the Taliban until the operation suddenly came to a halt on Sunday.
The enormous vehicular traffic was taken off the Bloody Karachi-Qandahar route stretching across the National Highway into Chaman and further onward into Kabul via Khyber Pass after the NATO attacked Pakistain Army's outposts in
Mohmand... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...
Agency, killing and wounding many soldiers.
Responding to Dawn queries, Khyber Transport Association chief Shakir Afridi said that one oil tanker having a capacity of around 50,000 to 60,000 litres cost between Rs4 million and Rs5 million and the transport fare was charged at a rate of around Rs12 per litre. "It takes 15 and 20 days for a return trip depending on the situation, which usually remains fluid," he added.
Similarly, he said, a trailer carrying a 40-foot container cost between Rs3.5 million and Rs4.5 million and charged a fare between Rs200,000 and Rs250,000. Each of the vehicles normally had a two/three member crew -- a driver and his support staff, claiming a monthly salary of around Rs35,000 and Rs20,000, respectively.
Mr Afridi said that each member organization of his association owned around 2,000 oil tankers and 3,500 trailers and handled between 85 and 90 per cent of the Afghanistan-bound supplies for the allied forces.
Regarding compensation for losses in the transportation process, he said the amount varied between Rs3 million and Rs3.5 million for each oil tanker destroyed in a blast or an arson attack which did not cover the entire loss and was paid three to four months after the incident. The situation for trailer-owners was worse as they did not get any compensation, he lamented.
He said the poor crew of the vehicles was fully exposed to all sorts of risks as they were not only vulnerable to armed attacks but only to accidents and other hazards. "Not a single penny is paid to them as compensation for death or injury," he said.
Ready to sacrifice
livelihood
Mr Afridi, whose business totally depends on handling of allied forces' supplies, appeared very clear on Pakistain's response to the Saturday raid.
Condemning the allied forces, he said that Pakistain should put its foot down and accept no apologies in this regard. He expressed his dismay over Pakistain's response against similar incidents in the past. "Every time they violated the Pakistain border and killed Paks in attacks, Islamabad restricted its response to registering protests and briefly suspending the transportation of supply."
He was of the view that Pakistain must take a tough stand over such attacks to settle the issue once and for all so that the allied forces did not dare repeat such acts.
In reply to a question that he might also lose his business for good once the supplies were stopped for good, Mr Afridi said he did not care about the livelihood as he believed that "Almighty Allah is the provider".
He said his association was with the government and the army and it would fully support any decision taken by the country's leadership.