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Sep 30th, 2010


Pakistan Blocks NATO Trucks After Deadly Strike

‘We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies,’ government minister says after three troops die

Video

Pakistan closes vital U.S. supply line (NBC Nightly News, Sept. 30, 2010) — After a NATO helicopter strike inside Pakistan’s border, Pakistan has shut off a vital supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan in apparent retaliation. NBC’s John Yang reports. (02:43)

The Associated Press, Reuters, and NBC News via MSNBC.com
September 30, 2010

PARACHINAR, Pakistan — Pakistan blocked a vital supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Thursday in apparent retaliation for an alleged cross-border helicopter strike by the coalition that killed three Pakistani frontier troops.

The blockade appeared to be a major escalation in tensions between Pakistan and the United States. A permanent stoppage of supply trucks would place massive strains on NATO and hurt the Afghan war effort.

“We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies,” Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said of the border incident, without mentioning the blockade.

NATO said in a statement Thursday that aircraft from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crossed the border into Pakistan Thursday morning and killed “several armed individuals.” …

The coalition has, on at least one occasion in the past, acknowledged mistakenly killing Pakistani security forces stationed close to the border. …

“We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies,” Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said of the border incident, without mentioning the blockade.

NATO said in a statement Thursday that aircraft from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) crossed the border into Pakistan Thursday morning and killed “several armed individuals.”

The aircraft initially crossed the border briefly while targeting suspected insurgents who were firing on a coalition base from a position inside Afghanistan, the statement said. They were then fired on by people in Pakistan, and crossed the border again to target that group.

The statement did not say if ISAF thought those killed were border guards, and when asked for clarification, an ISAF spokeswoman said both sides were still investigating the incident.

The coalition has, on at least one occasion in the past, acknowledged mistakenly killing Pakistani security forces stationed close to the border.

Pakistan and the U.S. have a complicated, but vital, relationship, with distrust on both sides.

Polls show many Pakistanis regard the United States as an enemy, and conspiracy theories abound of U.S. troops wanting to attack Pakistan and take over its nuclear weapons. The Pakistani government has to balance its support for the U.S. war in Afghanistan — and its need for billions in American aid — with maintaining the support from its own population.

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10/1/10 Update

Militants Set NATO Fuel Trucks Ablaze in Pakistan

Image: NATO oil trucks in Pakistan
Officials gather evidence near oil trucks in Shikarpur, Pakistan, on Friday, Oct. 1, 2010. (Photo credit: Aaron Favila / AP)

NBC News, The Associated Press, and Reuters via MSNBC.com
October 1, 2010

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Militants in southern Pakistan on Friday staged two attacks on trucks carrying supplies to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, killing two civilian contractors and torching the vehicles, most of them carrying fuel, officials said.

A convoy of 27 fuel trucks was hit in the first attack, while a truck driver and his co-worker were burned alive when extemists torched their truck in a second assault.

The attacks followed the Pakistani government’s decision to shut a vital border crossing in apparent protest of the NATO incursion, and further underscored the risks posed to Western forces who rely heavily on land routes in Pakistan to supply their troops.

The tankers likely were headed to a second crossing that has remained open and it was not immediately clear if they had been rerouted because of the closure.

Pakistan is a crucial ally for the United States in its efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, but analysts say border incursions and disruptions in NATO supplies underline growing tensions in the relationship.

A senior Pakistani intelligence official said the border incursions could lead to a “total snapping of relations.” …

About 12 people, their faces covered, opened fire with small arms in the air to scare away the drivers and then set fire to the tankers.

Police arrested 10 people after the attack, including five netted from a raid on an Islamic seminary, or madrassa, a senior police official said. …

Militants and ordinary criminals frequently attack NATO supply trucks as they travel across Pakistan to landlocked Afghanistan. …

Video

Militants attack NATO convoy in Pakistan (MSNBC, Oct. 1, 2010) — Suspected militants in Pakistan set fire Friday to more than two dozen tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan. NBC’s John Yang reports from Kabul, Afghanistan. (01:46)

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Related reports in this site

Easter Attack on U.S. Supply Line (April 12, 2009)


A view of destruction of NATO supplies near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, April 3, 2009. Militants using guns and gasoline bombs attacked a terminal in northwest Pakistan holding supplies bound for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, damaging five shipping containers, police said. (Photo credit: Mohammad Sajjad / AP)

Afghanistan — Obama’s Vietnam? (Feb. 3, 2009)

Image: Bridge destroyed in Pakistan
Islamist militants blew up a bridge in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2009, cutting a major supply line for Western troops in Afghanistan in the latest in a series of attacks on the Khyber Pass by insurgents seeking to hamper the U.S.-led mission against the Taliban. (Photo credit: Mohammad Sajjad / AP)

U.S. Supply Line Attacked (Dec. 8, 2008)


Damaged Humvees and trucks at a terminal in Peshawar, Pakistan. An attack on a convoy destroyed more than 160 vehicles carrying supplies to U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan. (Photo: Mohammad Sajjad / AP)

Militants Hijack U.S. Supply Convoy in Pakistan (Nov. 12, 2008)

Image: Hijacked armored car.
Local Pakistanis stand near an armored car reportedly hijacked by militants in the Khyber tribal region of Landikotel, 34 miles northwest of Peshawar, Pakistan, on Monday, Nov. 10, 2008. (Photo credit: Stringer / AP)

———

FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — September 30, 2009

Princeton Bomb Scare


A bomb disposal unit secures a suspicious object at the Princeton post office. (Photo: Chris Schafer / Princeton Union Eagle)

One year ago today, I reported that the Princeton, Minn., police and fire departments and bomb squads from Minneapolis and Crow Wing County were responding to reports of suspicious packages at the Princeton post office, high school, and public utilities building. It was later established that the packages contained “inert powders” and no hazardous materials — an apparent hoax. Police ultimately took two local teenagers into custody a couple of days after the incident.

———

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — September 30, 2008


Anja Niedringhaus / AP

After the Primary Election: Day 21

Two years ago today, on the 21st day after losing my 2008 primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, in line with my focus on national security, I reported on the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and U.S. military deaths and persistent violence in Iraq.





10 Responses to “Pakistan Shuts U.S. Supply Line”
  1. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » U.S. Supply Convoy Torched Again Says:

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    […] Pakistan Shuts U.S. Supply Line (Sept. 30, 2010) […]

  5. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » Pakistan U.S. Supply Line Threat Says:

    […] After NATO choppers from Afghanistan killed two Pakistani soldiers during a border incursion in September 2010, Pakistan closed the border to U.S. and NATO supply trucks for nearly two weeks. […]

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  7. Immelman for Congress » Blog Archive » AfPak Insurgents Attack U.S. Fuel Supplies … Again Says:

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