Nato supplies through Torkham resume after 11-day hiatus

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

LANDI KOTAL: Supplies through Torkham to US and allied forces in Afghanistan resumed on Sunday after eleven days of suspension.

About 120 containers and 25 oil tankers queued up at the border in the morning, following an announcement made by the government that the border crossing would be reopened for vehicles carrying Nato supplies.

Customs officials made special arrangements for clearing the vehicles on Sunday.

Truckers had some anxious moments when the local administration refused to issue gate passes, saying it had not received written orders about the reopening of the border. It was only at about 1pm that the first trailer crossed into Afghanistan.

The border was closed for supplies to troops in Afghanistan on Sept 30 after Nato helicopters attacked a security post in Kurram Agency.

Over 100 tankers carrying fuel for Nato forces have been torched and bombed across the country since then.

Reuters adds: The decision to resume the supply was taken after the US apologised to Pakistan for the helicopter incursion.

Shahriyar Khan, an official at the crossing, said: “Customs clearance

has been done since morning and now vehicles have started going to Afghanistan.”

On Saturday, militants torched 30 Nato tankers in Balochistan from where another supply route passes.

The Chaman border crossing has remained open.

The routes through Pakistan bring in 40 per cent of supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan, according to the United States Transportation Command. Of the remainder, 40 per cent come through Afghanistan’s neighbours in the north and 20 per cent by air.