Pak closure of key supply route has not hit Afghan war effort: NATO
By ANIThursday, October 7, 2010
KABUL - Pakistan’s closure of a key supply line for NATO troops in Afghanistan, and militant attacks on tankers plying second route have “not impeded” the military effort in Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman said Thursday.
The Dawn quoted Brigadier-General Josef Blotz, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), as saying that the alliance had built up reserves and developed alternative supply routes that allowed it to weather temporary disruptions.
The roads through Pakistan are the logistical backbone of the war in Afghanistan, but have been crippled since a series of cross-border incidents involving NATO-led forces stoked tensions.
“We have plenty of stocks and supplies within Afghanistan, just in case things like this happen. Secondly over the last couple of years we managed to diversify supply routes,” Brigadier General Blotz said, adding that only a third of NATO fuel came from Pakistan.
Brigadier General Blotz said he hoped a return to normal operations along both routes could be “closer” after the Obama administration apologized for a recent drone attack in Pakistan and the publication of a joint Pakistani-ISAF probe into the incident.
Over 2,000 foreign troops have died since the start of the war, over half of those in the last two years alone. (ANI)
