Risky Pakistan route imperils Afghanistan bound U.S. supplies

[unhappycamper]

People collect oil leaked from NATO trucks after being attacked by militants near Peshawar, Pakistan, on October 7.


Risky Pakistan route imperils Afghanistan bound U.S. supplies
By Saeed Shah | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Friday, October 15, 2010

SLAMABAD, Pakistan — The proportion of supplies for American troops in Afghanistan passing through Pakistan has dropped by half in the past two years, as attacks and bureaucratic delays have forced Pakistani transport companies and individual truck drivers to reconsider the job.

While investigations have found no high-level extremist involvement behind recent attacks on the supply convoys, U.S. officials said, the risks of the journey through Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan remain high, with some 150 trucks burned and several drivers killed this month.

"Price and reward don't seem to balance out any more. A lot of people are talking about getting out of the business," said Nadeem Khan, the chief executive of Raaziq International, a Pakistani transportation company that sub-contracts to truckers for delivery into Afghanistan. "You reach a point where you wonder: Is it worth it?"

Friday saw another attack in Pakistan, when gunmen ambushed a truck that had just returned from Afghanistan, killing the driver and his assistant. The main border crossing at Torkham was closed at the end of September for 10 days in protest of the accidental death of two Pakistani soldiers guarding the border. They were killed by American helicopter fire.

The issue of military supplies passing through Pakistan goes to the heart of the current debate in Washington over the war in Afghanistan and the fight against global terrorism: Is Pakistan a reliable ally?



unhappycamper comment: I offer the following question to you: Is the United States a reliable ally?