Pak mulls imposing tax on supply convoys for NATO in Afghanistan

LAHORE - The Pakistan government is cogitating about imposing a tax on NATO supply trucks going into Afghanistan from Pakistan, a TV channel has reported.

According to the channel, the government said it was considering imposing a tax on their supply, since numerous highways had been adversely affected due to the heavy trucks carrying NATO supplies to Afghanistan, the Daily Times reported.

The government might also demand a road tax from the US for the past seven years of transporting these trucks, which would amount to approximately 600 million rupees, the channel reported.

According to sources, NATO supplies are sent to Afghanistan through Chaman and Torkham road networks in Pakistan.

Some 500 trucks filled from Pakistani refineries go to Afghanistan on a daily basis, and this has been the routine since the last seven years, the channel said.

Earlier, Pakistan had blocked the Torkham route for convoys carrying supplies for NATO in Afghanistan in retaliation against cross-border air strikes by the US-led allied forces, in one of which three Pakistani soldiers were killed.

However, the suspension of the ISAF and NATO supplies was not the only action taken by the Pakistani authorities. According to diplomatic sources, the decision makers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad further decided to claim 600 million dollars from the forces as compensation for causing damage to Pakistan’s extensive road network, maintaining that the country was suffering a huge loss of around 83 million dollars annually, due to the ISAF and NATO freight truckloads badly damaging the national highways network since 2002. (ANI)