Pakistan's Local Gov't Orders Closure Of NATO Transportation Station

Pakistan's Local Gov't Orders Closure Of NATO Transportation Station

(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD - February 20, 2009: A provincial government in Pakistan has ordered closure of a transportation station for NATO forces based in Afghanistan, a minister told the regional assembly Thursday. The private transportation station to facilitate NATO forces was established on a 12-acre land in Fateh Jang, a town in the eastern Punjab province.

A Pakistani man is seen standing next to burnt trucks for U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan after an attack by militants on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in the region that borders the lawless, militant-plagued tribal belt and is a key stop for vehicles traversing the famed Khyber Pass, Pakistan. Suspected militants attacked a terminal used by vehicles ferrying supplies to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan early Saturday, the latest in a string of strikes on the critical and increasingly perilous supply route that snakes through northwest Pakistan. "The Punjab government has ordered the local administration to wind up the NATO transportation system," Law Minister Rana Sanaulah told the assembly. Opposition lawmaker Sher Ali Khan raised the issue in the house and said that transportation system had been set up for supplies of NATO forces in Afghanistan, adding that arms and other items had been supplied from the station. The provincial minister confirmed to the house that a person had given the land on rent for the NATO supply trucks, adding that the land had been given without permission from the Punjab government. Sanaulalh also said that NATO supply trucks were parked at the station before their journey to Afghanistan. The members of the provincial assembly welcomed the closure of the station by thumping desks. Officials say that some 70 percent of oil and other items are supplied to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan through Pakistan. NATO oil tankers and trucks are frequently attacked by suspected militants in the northwestern city of Peshawar and the Khyber tribal region. December was the worst month for NATO trucks as militants torched around 300 trucks and military vehicles in Peshawar. In view of security concerns, the U.S has struck deal with Russia and Central Asian states for transportation of supplies to forces in Afghanistan.