Angry Over Bin Laden Raid, Pakistan Threatens to Cut NATO’s Supply Line 

Lawmakers demand an end to American missile strikes against militants on their soil

A Pakistani boy holds up a placard during a rally in support of Pakistan’s army and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency, ISI, in Karachi, Pakistan, on Saturday, May 14, 2011. Members of Pakistan’s Parliament slammed the United States on Saturday for the raid that killed al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden on their soil. (Photo credit: Fareed Khan / AP)

By Nahal Toosi

May 14, 2011

ISLAMABAD — Still angry over the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Pakistani lawmakers demanded an end to American missile strikes against Islamist militants on their soil Saturday, and warned that Pakistan may cut NATO’s supply line to Afghanistan if the attacks don’t stop.

The nonbinding parliamentary resolution reflects the precarious state of the U.S.-Pakistani alliance, which is vital to the war effort in neighboring Afghanistan. The bin Laden raid has brought to the fore a longstanding dilemma that U.S. strikes that Washington says kill militants often are seen by Pakistanis as a violation of sovereignty with mostly civilian victims, exacerbating an already-high anti-American sentiment. …

Washington also has been unable to get Islamabad to go after militant groups, such as the Haqqani network, who use its soil as hideouts but stage attacks only inside Afghanistan. Analysts say Pakistan may be maintaining ties to some insurgents because it wants leverage in Afghanistan — and a wedge against archrival India — once the U.S. pulls out. …

On Friday, two suicide bombers struck a training center for paramilitary police recruits, killing 87 people in the Shabqadar area of Pakistan’s northwest in what the Pakistani Taliban called a revenge attack for the death of bin Laden [link added]. …

Ties have frayed in recent months over the case of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who killed two Pakistanis in January, as well as missile strikes that have allegedly killed civilians [links added]. Davis, who claimed the two Pakistanis were trying to rob him, was eventually freed after the victims families agreed to financial compensation, even as the U.S. insisted he had diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

The U.S. and NATO rely heavily — though increasingly less — on land routes in Pakistan to ferry non-lethal material to their troops across the border in Afghanistan. That gives Pakistan some leverage in its dealings with the U.S.

Last fall, after NATO choppers from Afghanistan killed two Pakistani soldiers during a border incursion, Pakistan closed the border to U.S. and NATO supply trucks for nearly two weeks [link added]. …

Full story

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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)

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U.S. Supply Convoy Torched Again (Oct. 3, 2010)

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

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

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

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U.S. Drone Down in Pakistan (Sept. 24, 2008)

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Pakistani police and firefighters gather beside flames that erupted from the wreckage of NATO oil tankers following a blast at a terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar on Feb. 26, 2011. (Photo credit: A. Majeed / AFP — Getty Images)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: One Year Ago — May 14, 2010

‘Dark Days Soaked With Blood’

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One year ago today, I reported that Al-Qaida in Iraq warned Shiites that “dark days soaked with blood” lay ahead with a new campaign of violence yet to come.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: Two Years Ago — May 14, 2009

Bachmann Liberal Love-Affair

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