[Peace-discuss] Resistance strikes invaders' supply-route

[C. G. Estabrook]

	BBC NEWS
	Militants torch Afghan supplies

More than 90 lorries supplying US forces in Afghanistan have been set on fire in 
a suspected militant attack in north-west Pakistan, police say.

Police said at least one person was killed as about 300 gunmen using rockets 
overpowered the guards at a terminal near the city of Peshawar.

Some of the lorries were laden with Humvee armoured vehicles.

There have been a series of attacks on convoys recently - although not on this 
scale, says the BBC's Martin Patience.

The road from Peshawar to Afghanistan is a major supply route for US and Western 
forces battling against the Taleban.

A US spokesman, Lt Col Rumi Nielsen-Green, said the incident was "militarily 
insignificant".

"So far there hasn't been a significant loss or impact to our mission," she said.

But, with 300 lorries crossing the border each day, military officials will be 
deeply concerned that their supply line can be disrupted in this manner, our 
correspondent in the Afghan capital, Kabul, says.

US military sources say that most of the additional US troops being sent to 
Afghanistan early next year will be deployed around the city.

Overpowered guards

The attack occurred around 0230 on Sunday (2130 GMT, Saturday) as militants 
stormed the Port World Logistics terminal.

"There were dozens of them. They started firing, they used rockets, causing a 
lot of damage," the manager of the depot, Kifyatullah Khan, told the Associated 
Press news agency.

"In this incident 96 flat trucks and six containers were destroyed, including a 
40-foot container. Also armoured jeeps, trucks and fire brigade vehicles."

"They were shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and Down With America," a 
security guard told Reuters news agency.

"They broke into the terminals after snatching guns from us," Mohammad Rafiullah 
said.

Another report said 106 lorries had been set on fire - 62 laden with Humvees.

A local official said it was the second attack on the terminals and security had 
been strengthened, but the guards were overwhelmed by the large numbers of 
attackers.

War closer

Security along the road leading to the border has deteriorated this year with 
soldiers recently carrying out an offensive in the Khyber region to drive 
militants away from the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the north-west.

Hauliers say that more than 350 trucks carry an average of 7,000 tonnes of goods 
over the Khyber Pass to Kabul every day.

Almost 75% of all supplies for Nato forces in Afghanistan come through Pakistan, 
the majority through Peshawar.

Last month, militants looted 12 lorries carrying Humvees and food aid as they 
travelled through the Khyber Pass.

The Taleban filmed themselves triumphantly driving off with their booty of Nato 
vehicles.

The alliance's supplies heading for the border were suspended for a week while 
security was stepped up.

Lorry drivers are also under increasing threat by the militants.

Haji Haghaley showed his bullet-riddlled vehicle to the BBC's Damian Grammaticas 
last month, days after it had come under Taleban fire.

Haji Haghaley said he had driven as fast as he could.

Another driver told the BBC what had happened to his cousin recently.

"He was carrying US army trucks, and the Taleban stopped him," the man said. 
"The Taleban burnt his truck. They took my cousin. They demanded 10 lakh rupees 
in ransom ($11,500), but then lowered it to 35,000 rupees ($400)."

Our correspondent says Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, 
was also under militant threat.

The war is pushing the Taleban deeper into Pakistan, he says.

In recent weeks there have been a spate of attacks targeting foreigners there.

An American diplomat escaped an assassination attempt because her armoured car 
protected her, but a US aid worker was killed in a second attack.

The police have stepped up security in the city, there are new checkpoints, more 
armed patrols.

But Peshawar's police say they are outgunned and ill-equipped for the fight on 
their hands.

In the past, Western and Afghan officials have criticised the Pakistani 
government, saying it is not doing enough to tackle Islamic militancy in the 
tribal areas.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7769758.stm

Published: 2008/12/07 14:20:59 GMT

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