NATO supply suspension enters 3rd day

PESHAWAR: Pakistan has temporarily stopped NATO supply trucks crossing its northwestern border into Afghanistan over security concerns due to fears of terrorist attacks and the suspension has entered its third day Friday, Geo News reported.

Gunmen on Tuesday attacked a convoy of NATO supply trucks, killing a driver, in the town of Jamrud near the main northwestern city of Peshawar, in the first such attack since Pakistan lifted a seven-month blockade of the border.

"Movement of NATO vehicles has been temporarily suspended since Wednesday evening to beef up security," a paramilitary official told. "We have launched a search operation in the hills surrounding Jamrud," the official added.

On Wednesday, officials at the northwestern Torkham crossing had said traffic was picking up for the first time since the blockade ended, with more than 100 vehicles crossing in recent days. But local administration official Bakhtiar Khan confirmed Thursday the supply route had been suspended due to "security reasons".

He said the NATO route would "resume very soon", but that until then trucks carrying supplies for the 130,000-strong US-led mission in Afghanistan had been told not to approach the border.

So far, the closure has only affected the Torkham crossing.

Islamabad closed its land routes to NATO convoys after US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on November 26, but reopened them after Washington said sorry for the deaths.