Truck halt on Pakistan pass may hurt U.S.

updated 3:45 p.m. ET Nov. 16, 2008

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Container trucks and oil tankers bound for U.S and NATO troops in Afghanistan were forced off the road on Sunday after militant attacks prompted Pakistan to block a major supply line, highlighting the vulnerability of the mountain passage.

The suspension in northwest Pakistan was confirmed on Sunday and was intended to allow for a review of security in the famed Khyber Pass. The convoys currently have little to no security detail as they travel to Afghanistan with vital food, fuel and other goods.

The ban on container trucks and tankers could be lifted as early as Monday with new procedures in place, said Bakhtiar Khan, a No. 2 government representative in the area.

Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters are behind much of the escalating violence along the lengthy, porous Afghan-Pakistan border. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan have accused each other of not doing enough to stop militant activity, while U.S. missile strikes in Pakistani territory have ratcheted up tensions further.

Militants hijack trucks
Last Monday, dozens of suspected Taliban militants hijacked several trucks near the Khyber Pass whose load included Humvees heading to the U.S.-led coalition. Over the weekend, U.S.-led coalition troops reported killing 38 insurgents in fighting in southern Afghanistan and detaining two militant leaders near Pakistan's lawless border.

U.S. and NATO officials in Afghanistan have sought to downplay threats posed to the convoys coming through Pakistan, but NATO has said it is close to striking pacts with Central Asian countries that would let it transport "non-lethal" supplies from north of Afghanistan.

In April, NATO concluded a transit agreement with Russia, but it will be of practical use only once the Central Asian nations between Russia and Afghanistan come on board.

"It's not the first time this has happened," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said of the hold up on Sunday. "When this has happened in the past it did not have any impact in the long term."

A Pakistani official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media said authorities planned to offer paramilitary Frontier Corps escorts to trucks carrying supplies for troops in Afghanistan. He did not say when this would happen.

"The suspension was made to review the security arrangements and that has already been done," Khan said. "Along with increasing the security and establishing more checkpoints, we have issued orders to deal with attackers and snatchers more strictly."

The suspension left dozens of trucks and oil tankers stranded along a main road near Peshawar, the regional capital.

"This is our job, and we have to do it, but yes, we have a security risk every time we pass through the route," said Rehmatullah, a driver who gave only one name and said his truck was carrying a military vehicle of some sort.

Most supplies come via Karachi
Most of the supplies headed to foreign troops in Afghanistan arrive in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi in unmarked, sealed shipping containers and are loaded onto trucks for the journey either to the border town of Chaman or on the primary route, through the Khyber Pass.

The recent ambush took place at the entrance to the pass. U.S. officials say the attackers seized two Humvees and a water truck. Several trucks carrying wheat for the World Food Program were also hijacked.

While critical of recent U.S. missile strikes in Pakistan's northwest tribal regions, both Pakistan's prime minister and president denied any plans to subvert the supply line as a pressure tactic in recent interviews with The Associated Press.

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