Pakistan to re-open Khyber to supply Western forces
By Kamran Haider
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Pakistan will reopen a main supply route to Western forces in Afghanistan on Monday, a week after militants hijacked more than a dozen trucks on the road through the Khyber Pass, a senior official said on Sunday.
Most supplies, including fuel, for U.S. and NATO forces in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan, much of it through the fabled pass that lies between the northwestern city of Peshawar and the border town of Torkham.
Over the course of last week, aside from the hijacking, militants in Peshawar carried out a suicide bomb attack, shot dead an American aid worker and his driver, kidnapped an Iranian diplomat and killed his police bodyguard, and shot and wounded a Japanese and an Afghan journalist working with foreign media.
Pakistan's support is seen as vital to the West's efforts to defeat al Qaeda globally and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The unending violence has heightened fears that the nuclear-armed nation could slide into chaos unless its 8-month-old civilian government, also battling an economic crisis, and the army can turn the tide against the Islamist militants. Pakistani authorities in the tribal region of Khyber blocked the main road from Peshawar through the pass to the border at Torkham soon after militants hijacked 13 trucks laden with Western military supplies on Nov. 10.
A senior government administrator in Khyber, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, told Reuters that truck convoys would start rolling again with armed escorts.
"Now they will be escorted by security personnel and vehicles," Fida Mohammad Bangash, the deputy political agent for Khyber, told Reuters.
CRIMINAL NEXUS
The result of the past week's interruption to traffic could be seen along Peshawar's ring road, where dozens of Humvees and trucks full of supplies for NATO forces lay parked in the open, with little security in evidence.
People in Jamrud, the main commercial hub in the Khyber Pass, say militants move freely in the area, and drive through on pick-up trucks half-an-hour before prayers, ordering shopkeepers to close and escorting them to mosques.
"We have virtually become hostage in the hands of Taliban. There is no security," Mohammad Shafiq, a Khyber resident, said, adding that militants controlled a corridor of 15 km (9 miles) either side of the road, and went virtually unchallenged by paramilitary troops stationed in the area.
Security forces were preparing for an operation to clean out militants and criminal gangs that operate in the hills overlooking the road winding through the pass, Bangash said.
The fiercely independent tribes in Khyber have long been known for their involvement in smuggling, running drugs and arms, and kidnapping.
There have been worrying signs this year that Islamist militancy has spread to the area from more distant tribal regions where the Taliban and al Qaeda have taken root, and criminal gangs in Khyber have begun using religious zeal as a cover.
North West Frontier Police Chief Malik Naveed Khan told Reuters there were three criminal gangs in Khyber with direct links to militant groups.
The recent attacks on foreigners in Peshawar were an attempt "to defame Pakistan internationally and give an impression that there's no rule," Khan said, adding they were acts of desperation rather than boldness.
Khan was confident that an offensive by security forces in Bajaur and pressure in other tribal regions had begun to pay off.
DIPLOMATIC LEVERAGE
Last June, as security deteriorated in Peshawar, soldiers carried out a sweep in parts of Khyber to push militants back from the outskirts of the city.
The booty from last week's hijacking was two Humvee vehicles and a consignment of wheat but there were no weapons or ammunition.
The militants unloaded the trucks and abandoned them but held most of the drivers.
Earlier this year, four U.S. helicopter engines worth more than $13 million were stolen in northwest Pakistan while being trucked from Afghanistan to Karachi port to be shipped home.
Transport operators say the government had neglected the security along the road. About two dozen trucks and oil-tankers have been attacked in the past month.
"If the government wanted to clear the road and open, it could do it within a day," said Mohammad Shafiq, a transport company owner. "We don't know why they're not taking action."
"Either they are scared of these militants or they are their own men," said Haji Omer, a transporter, complaining bitterly over the money he loses with every day the road is blocked.
A diplomatic spat with the United States in September after a U.S. commando raid in the Waziristan tribal region sparked outrage in Pakistan, and led to the government halting the flow of supply trucks through the border town of Torkham for a day.
The other main land route to Afghanistan runs from the southwestern city of Quetta through the border town of Chaman to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
Although the U.S. military has refrained from sending ground troops into Pakistani territory since the Sept. 3 incursion, Pakistan continues to protest against unilateral U.S. missile strikes launched by pilotless drone aircraft against militant targets in the Waziristan region.
(Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Pakistan will reopen a main supply route to Western forces in Afghanistan on Monday, a week after militants hijacked more than a dozen trucks on the road through the Khyber Pass, a senior official said on Sunday.
Most supplies, including fuel, for U.S. and NATO forces in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through Pakistan, much of it through the fabled pass that lies between the northwestern city of Peshawar and the border town of Torkham.
Over the course of last week, aside from the hijacking, militants in Peshawar carried out a suicide bomb attack, shot dead an American aid worker and his driver, kidnapped an Iranian diplomat and killed his police bodyguard, and shot and wounded a Japanese and an Afghan journalist working with foreign media.
Pakistan's support is seen as vital to the West's efforts to defeat al Qaeda globally and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The unending violence has heightened fears that the nuclear-armed nation could slide into chaos unless its 8-month-old civilian government, also battling an economic crisis, and the army can turn the tide against the Islamist militants. Pakistani authorities in the tribal region of Khyber blocked the main road from Peshawar through the pass to the border at Torkham soon after militants hijacked 13 trucks laden with Western military supplies on Nov. 10.
A senior government administrator in Khyber, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, told Reuters that truck convoys would start rolling again with armed escorts.
"Now they will be escorted by security personnel and vehicles," Fida Mohammad Bangash, the deputy political agent for Khyber, told Reuters.
CRIMINAL NEXUS
The result of the past week's interruption to traffic could be seen along Peshawar's ring road, where dozens of Humvees and trucks full of supplies for NATO forces lay parked in the open, with little security in evidence.
People in Jamrud, the main commercial hub in the Khyber Pass, say militants move freely in the area, and drive through on pick-up trucks half-an-hour before prayers, ordering shopkeepers to close and escorting them to mosques.
"We have virtually become hostage in the hands of Taliban. There is no security," Mohammad Shafiq, a Khyber resident, said, adding that militants controlled a corridor of 15 km (9 miles) either side of the road, and went virtually unchallenged by paramilitary troops stationed in the area.
Security forces were preparing for an operation to clean out militants and criminal gangs that operate in the hills overlooking the road winding through the pass, Bangash said.
The fiercely independent tribes in Khyber have long been known for their involvement in smuggling, running drugs and arms, and kidnapping.
There have been worrying signs this year that Islamist militancy has spread to the area from more distant tribal regions where the Taliban and al Qaeda have taken root, and criminal gangs in Khyber have begun using religious zeal as a cover.
North West Frontier Police Chief Malik Naveed Khan told Reuters there were three criminal gangs in Khyber with direct links to militant groups.
The recent attacks on foreigners in Peshawar were an attempt "to defame Pakistan internationally and give an impression that there's no rule," Khan said, adding they were acts of desperation rather than boldness.
Khan was confident that an offensive by security forces in Bajaur and pressure in other tribal regions had begun to pay off.
DIPLOMATIC LEVERAGE
Last June, as security deteriorated in Peshawar, soldiers carried out a sweep in parts of Khyber to push militants back from the outskirts of the city.
The booty from last week's hijacking was two Humvee vehicles and a consignment of wheat but there were no weapons or ammunition.
The militants unloaded the trucks and abandoned them but held most of the drivers.
Earlier this year, four U.S. helicopter engines worth more than $13 million were stolen in northwest Pakistan while being trucked from Afghanistan to Karachi port to be shipped home.
Transport operators say the government had neglected the security along the road. About two dozen trucks and oil-tankers have been attacked in the past month.
"If the government wanted to clear the road and open, it could do it within a day," said Mohammad Shafiq, a transport company owner. "We don't know why they're not taking action."
"Either they are scared of these militants or they are their own men," said Haji Omer, a transporter, complaining bitterly over the money he loses with every day the road is blocked.
A diplomatic spat with the United States in September after a U.S. commando raid in the Waziristan tribal region sparked outrage in Pakistan, and led to the government halting the flow of supply trucks through the border town of Torkham for a day.
The other main land route to Afghanistan runs from the southwestern city of Quetta through the border town of Chaman to the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
Although the U.S. military has refrained from sending ground troops into Pakistani territory since the Sept. 3 incursion, Pakistan continues to protest against unilateral U.S. missile strikes launched by pilotless drone aircraft against militant targets in the Waziristan region.
(Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
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