World | Pakistan
Islamabad reopens US and Nato forces supply route to Afghanistan
43 militants arrested during a military operation to cleanse the area of outlaws.
- AP
- Published: 23:19 January 3, 2009
Islamabad: Pakistan reopened the main supply route for US and Nato troops in Afghanistan on Friday after blocking it for three days during an operation against militants blamed for repeated attacks on convoys in the Khyber Pass, an official said.
Authorities say the operation was a success, but a similar offensive in June failed to curtail attacks and was followed by a controversial peace deal with tribal elders in the northwest Khyber region.
The US plans to deploy up to 30,000 additional troops to landlocked Afghanistan next year, further increasing the importance of secure supply routes through Pakistan, which deliver up to 75 per cent of the fuel, food and other goods used by Western forces. Militants have stepped up attacks against convoys passing through Khyber in recent months and have also ransacked terminals in the nearby city of Peshawar holding supplies including Humvees intended for the Afghan army.
American officials say the attacks have not affected their ability to operate in Afghanistan but have acknowledged they are looking for ways to improve security along the route and are investigating alternative ways to deliver supplies.
Military operation
They have praised the Pakistani operation, which started on Tuesday and used artillery and helicopter gunships to destroy suspected militant hide-outs.
Top Khyber administration official, Tariq Hayat Khan, said on Friday the operation would continue, but not close enough to the road through the Khyber Pass to disrupt traffic.
Khan displayed a large cache of weapons seized during the operation, including heavy machine guns and rocket launchers, and said 43 suspected militants had been arrested.
The US has also attempted to disrupt Al Qaida and Taliban militants on the Afghan border by firing missiles from unmanned aircraft.
A suspected US missile strike killed three militants and wounded two others in the South Waziristan tribal area on Friday, the second in as many days in the lawless region, said two intelligence officials.
Villager Yar Mohammad said the missile hit an abandoned school in the village of Mehdan.
The strikes have angered local residents and the Pakistani government, which says they are a violation of the country's sovereignty. The US has continued the practice in an attempt to stop the militants from staging cross-border attacks against Western forces in Afghanistan.
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