Taliban Hits NATO Supply Route

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Supplies intended for NATO forces in Afghanistan were suspended Tuesday after Taliban militants blew up a highway bridge in the Khyber Pass region, a lawless northwestern tribal area straddling the border with Afghanistan.

Hidayatullah Khan, a government official in the Khyber Pass region, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the 30-yard-long iron bridge was located 15 miles northwest of Peshawar, the capital of the restive North-West Frontier Province.

Pakistani officials said they were assessing the damage and teams had been sent to repair the bridge. But it was not immediately clear how soon the trucks carrying crucial supplies for NATO forces would be able to travel through the Khyber Pass to Afghanistan.

More than 80 percent of the supplies meant for American and coalition forces in Afghanistan flow through Pakistan. Attacks aimed at choking the supply lines have become increasingly frequent and brazen, despite the presence of Pakistani security forces in the area.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/world/asia/04pstan.html?hp

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. ..."despite" the presence of Pakistani security forces in the area.

:think:

[shadowknows69]

2. So, NATO isn't guarding NATO convoys?

How much of a cluster fuck it is over there we'll probably never know. The bodies will keep coming home though in the sad shroud of our flag.

[Crowman1979]

3. When I saw the words Khyber Pass...

...I knew it was a death trap. Because if you read about the history of the area, it is well known for the many deadly battle that took place there.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Rudyard Kipling called it "a sword cut through the mountains."

George Molesworth, a member of the British force of 1919, summarized: "Every stone in the Khyber has been soaked in blood."

[bemildred]

5. I'll bet that road has a lot of bridges on it. nt