DTN News: Russia To Grant U.S. Afghan Supply Route

DTN News: Russia To Grant U.S. Afghan Supply Route

*Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - July 5, 2009: Russia will grant President Barack Obama permission next week to ship U.S. weapons supplies across its territory, or through its airspace, en route to Afghanistan, sources on both sides told Reuters on Saturday. The transit deal will open up an important corridor for the United States as it steps up its Afghan war against Taliban insurgents by sending in more troops. Routes via Pakistan have come under attack by militants. It will be one of the main agreements signed during Obama's Moscow summit next week with Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev, the sources said. "The agreement will include the transit of all U.S. goods, including military ones (to Afghanistan)," a senior Kremlin source told Reuters. A U.S. source confirmed the deal would be signed and said it would mark a step forward in cooperation on Afghanistan, which Russia views as a key area where both the former Cold War foes can work together to mend ties. It was not immediately clear if the deal would allow the United States to fly troops over Russian territory to Afghanistan. Medvedev has repeatedly said he is ready to widen cooperation with U.S.-led coalition and NATO forces in Afghanistan, though Moscow has ruled out sending any of its own troops to fight. Russia has already granted Washington the right to transit 'non-lethal' supplies, such as food, overland via Russia -- and Central Asia -- to Afghanistan. Moscow has also granted NATO members Germany, France and Spain the right to use Russian territory to transit military cargos to Afghanistan. (Additional reporting by Washington bureau) (Reporting by Oleg Shchedrov and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

Pakistan: Militants Torch Supplies Bound For Troops in Afghanistan

Pakistan: Militants Torch Supplies Bound For Troops in Afghanistan

(NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - April 13, 2009: Pakistani police say Taliban militants have set fire to about 10 trucks carrying cement to Western forces in neighboring Afghanistan. Authorities say the trucks were in terminals near the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. Officials say gun battles erupted at the scene early Sunday. Media reports say several guards or truck drivers were wounded in the attack.

Pakistani drivers push a half burnt truck after militants attack at a terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sunday, April 12, 2009.

Militants in Pakistan frequently attack cargo terminals and other stops used by vehicles taking supplies to Western troops in land-locked Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass.

A worker poses next to a burnt out military vehicle at a terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar April 12, 2009. Taliban militants set fire on Sunday to 10 container trucks carrying supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan in a pre-dawn attack near the Pakistani city of Peshawar, police said.

Scores of trucks have been damaged, while several people have died, adding urgency to the U.S. efforts to find safer routes.

People gather beside a truck carrying NATO supplies after it was burned by militants at a terminal in outskirt of Peshawar, Pakistan.

In other news, authorities say Pakistani filmmaker Satish Anand was freed by his captors Saturday, six months after he was abducted in Karachi. Media reports say he was released after a ransom payment was made. Six people have been detained in connection to the kidnapping.

Pakistan: Taliban Destroy Six NATO Oil Tankers In Peshawar

Pakistan: Taliban Destroy Six NATO Oil Tankers In Peshawar

(NSI News Source Info) April 11, 2009: More than six oil tankers, used for supplying fuel to NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan, were reportedly destroyed Friday by suspected Taliban militants in Chamkani region of Pakistan's main northwest city of Peshawar, reports say. A man looks at wreckage of NATO oil tankers allegedly recently attacked by militants near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, April 10, 2009. Several NATO parking lots transporting supplies into Afghanistan have came under attack on a number of occasions. The militants blasted one of the 35 tankers--loaded with diesel, petrol and aviation fuel--parked overnight at the Chamkani area by placing an explosive device underneath, an unidentified police official said. The blast triggered a massive blaze, which engulfed six tankers, he said, adding that the blaze was only brought under control by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) vehicles after local firefighters failed to control the blaze. Special chemicals were used to extinguish the raging flames, a security official said. The oil tankers, contracted to supply NATO forces, had been parked in an unauthorized area, the official said. Militants have carried out a series of attacks in recent times against supplies for U.S. and NATO-led foreign forces fighting a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. The bulk of supplies and equipment required by the foreign troops across the border are shipped through northwest Pakistan's tribal region of Khyber. A Pakistani firefighter tries to extinguish burning oil supply tankers after a late night blast on the outskirts of Peshawar April 10, 2009. Militants blew up five oil-tankers, supplying fuel to Western forces fighting Taliban and al Qaeda insurgents in neighbouring Afghanistan, police and witnesses said. U.S. officials say northwest Pakistan has become a safe haven for Al-Qaida and Taliban militants after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and have regrouped to launch attacks on foreign troops across the border.

US Warns Pakistan On Taliban Link

US Warns Pakistan On Taliban Link

(NSI News Source Info) March 28, 2009: The US military says it has evidence elements within Pakistan's military intelligence, the ISI, continue to provide support for the Taleban. Officials said that this support for militants had to end. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said the ISI had links with militants on both Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan and India. Pakistani army troops stand guard as supporters of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad, remove a blocks to reopen a road, which was closed by militants, Sunday, March 8, 2009 in outskirt of Mingora, capital of the troubled Swat Valley, in Pakistan. Taliban militants in Pakistan's Swat Valley have extended a cease-fire, strengthening a peace process that Western governments say risks granting a safe haven to extremists close to the Afghan border. US President Barack Obama has announced a new strategy for the "increasingly perilous" situation in Afghanistan. He said an extra 4,000 US personnel would train and bolster the Afghan army and police, and he would also provide support for civilian development. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was "in full agreement" with the US review. 'Very damaging' Two senior figures in the US military have spoken about the links they believe exist between elements in Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Taleban and al-Qaeda militants. People in Islamabad give their views about Mr Obama's speech "There are certainly indications that's the case," said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a CNN interview. "Fundamentally that's one of the things that has to change." In another interview, the head of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, said some of the militant groups had been established by the ISI and that their links continued. He said there was evidence that "in the fairly recent past" the ISI had tipped off militants when their positions were in danger. "It's a topic that is of enormous importance, because if there are links and if those continue and if it undermines the operations [against militants], obviously that would be very damaging to the kind of trust that we need to build," said Gen Petraeus in a PBS interview. Wearing thin American officials, speaking anonymously to the New York Times, have given more detail. So I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan Barack Obama They said the strengthening Taleban campaign in southern Afghanistan was being made possible by military supplies from Pakistan. The newspaper said electronic surveillance and informants had shown that the level of co-operation was deeper and more extensive than earlier thought. Pakistani leaders have publically denied any links with the militants. The BBC's Charles Scanlon says patience in Washington appears to be wearing thin. 'New strategy' On Friday US President Barack Obama said growing radical forces in Afghanistan and the border area in Pakistan posed the greatest threat to the American people and the world. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said it would strengthen democracy in his country, while the Afghan government said Mr Obama had recognised that the al-Qaeda threat came mainly from Pakistan, and that it was a regional problem. President Obama said his "comprehensive new strategy" was an outcome of a "careful policy review" in which military commanders and diplomats, regional governments, partners, Nato allies, NGOs and aid organisations were consulted. US troops carry out joint operations with the new Afghan security forces He painted a bleak picture of the situation, with insurgents increasing their control of territory in the region around the Afghan-Pakistan border - which he termed "the most dangerous place in the world" for the American people - and attacks rising. He said American strategy must relate directly to the threat posed to the Americans by al-Qaeda and its allies - who, he reminded his listeners, were behind the 9/11 attacks on American soil eight years ago. But he said targeting al-Qaeda was not only in the interests of American people, but populations around the world and Afghans themselves. "This is not simply an American problem. Far from it," Mr Obama said. "It is instead an international security challenge of the highest order." In Pakistan, Mr Obama said American help would be needed to go after al-Qaeda, which Mr Obama admitted was "no simple task".

Afghan NATO Supply Terminal Attacked In Pakistan

Afghan NATO Supply Terminal Attacked In Pakistan

(NSI News Source Info) March 15, 2009: Suspected militants attacked a Pakistani transport terminal from which supplies are sent to NATO troops in Afghanistan, burning dozens of vehicles and shipping containers, police said. Rising Taliban attacks have raised doubts about the reliability of critical supply routes through Pakistan, prompting the U.S. and NATO to seek alternatives. Vehicles use to transport NATO supplies to neighboring Afghanistan are set on fire in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sunday, March 15, 2009. Police said suspected militants have attacked a transport terminal used to supply NATO troops in Afghanistan and burned dozens of military vehicles and shipping containers. About 40 assailants struck the Pak-Afghan Container Terminal near the northwestern city of Peshawar before dawn Sunday, police and witnesses said. Mohammad Asif Khan, an assistant to a driver whose truck was parked at the terminal, said armed men scaled the back wall of the compound and tied up the guards. "I was hiding in a corner, and I saw them throw petrol bombs and fire rockets and shots" at the parked vehicles, he said. Police official Ejaz Khan said the attackers burned dozens of vehicles and shipping containers. An Associated Press Television News cameraman who visited the depot said the charred wrecks included several Humvees. It was unclear if the torched supplies were destined for foreign troops in Afghanistan or for the Western-backed Afghan army, which uses similar imported equipment. Afghan-based U.S. and NATO forces get up to 75 percent of their supplies via routes through Pakistan. Suspected Taliban militants have repeatedly struck transport depots near Peshawar in recent months, destroying scores of military vehicles, while attacks on the road through the Khyber Pass to the Afghan border have repeatedly forced its temporary closure. U.S. and NATO officials insist the attacks have little impact on their operations, but are looking at ways to bring more supplies into Afghanistan through Central Asia.

U.S. Soldiers On R&R To Germany With Stopover At Kyrgyzstan

U.S. Soldiers On R&R To Germany With Stopover At Kyrgyzstan

(NSI News Source Info) March 2, 2009: US soldiers arrived from Afghanistan stand near a plane at the US airbase 30 km outside Bishkek in Manas on February 26, 2009. The soldiers who had been serving with ISAF forces in Afghanistan made a layover on their way to Germany. The United States is still holding out hope for a deal with Kyrgyzstan to avoid the closure of the US military supply base there for Afghanistan even after the Kyrgyz president formalised the shutdown.

US Ready To Pay More For Kyrgyz Base Within Limits: Gates

US Ready To Pay More For Kyrgyz Base Within Limits: Gates

(NSI News Source Info) Krakow, Poland - February 20, 2009: The United States is ready to pay more but not beyond a "reasonable" amount to use an air base in Kyrgyzstan to supply US forces in Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates addresses reporters during his final press conference at a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Krakow, Southern Poland February 20, 2009. "We have not resigned ourselves to this being the last word," Gates said after the Kyrgyz parliament voted Thursday to close the Manas air base. "We're going to continue to work the problem with the Kyrgyz" government, the defense chief said during a visit to Poland for a NATO defense ministers meeting. "I think we are prepared to look at the fees and see if there is a justification for a somewhat larger payment but we're not going to be ridiculous about it," he said. "We're prepared to do something that we think is reasonable." The United States pays 17.4 million dollars a year to use the strategic air base, which serves as a vital hub for moving troops and supplies in and out of Afghanistan. The move by Kyrgyzstan complicates the US mission in Afghanistan just two days after President Barack Obama approved the deployment of 17,000 additional troops there and follows a series of insurgent attacks on vital supply lines through Pakistan. Kyrgyzstan's decision came shortly after Russia offered major financial aid, but Kyrgyz officials have insisted the two issues are not related. The US government was holding "discussions" with the Kyrgyz government and had yet to receive official notification of a decision to close Manas, a Pentagon spokesman said earlier in Washington. "Manas is important but it's not irreplaceable," Gates said. "We have looked at alternatives, and have been talking to a number of different countries," he said on the sidelines of the NATO meeting. Gates said that contingency plans for other supply routes reflected the increased demands that will come from the planned deployment of US troop reinforcements to Afghanistan. "The thinking and the planning that has been done in terms of an alternative network takes into account the increase of troop levels and the requirements that they will impose," he added. After the parliamentary vote in Kyrgyzstan, the legislation was due to be signed by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. The United States would then be formally notified and given six months to remove its base, said ruling Ak Zhol party lawmaker Zayinidin Kurmanov in Bishkek. The US base, home to about 1,000 troops, including small French and Spanish contingents, was set up to support coalition forces fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. About 15,000 people and 500 tonnes of cargo move in and out of the Manas air base every month supporting the NATO mission in Afghanistan and the Afghan army. Since Bishkek's announcement, both Russia and Tajikistan have offered their territory to transit non-lethal supplies to NATO and US forces in Afghanistan. General David Petraeus, head of Central Command, which oversees the region, travelled to Uzbekistan on Tuesday to meet President Islam Karimov and discuss regional security. The visit was widely interpreted as a sign that the United States was seeking to use the country as a transit route for Afghanistan. Tashkent closed a US air base that helped serve troops stationed in Afghanistan in 2005, following EU and US criticism over the Uzbek government's handling of an armed uprising in the city of Andijan.

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.

NATO Supply To Afghan Needs Iran

NATO Supply To Afghan Needs Iran

(NSI News Source Info) February 18, 2009: The Taliban has staged repeated attacks on Afghanistan’s perilous Khyber Pass against trucks loaded with NATO supplies. The international security forces, including Germany’s Bundeswehr, are scrambling to find safer routes — and might even consider one through Iran. The best road networks among all neighboring countries are to be found in Iran, a country neighboring Afghanistan that has recently had significant issues with the West, though for other reasons. These problems with Iran have made this alternative taboo.

But NATO is desperate to find a solution and, according to diplomatic sources in Pakistan, it is also negotiating with Tehran “at a lower level.” The rapprochement already began under former President George W. Bush, who had accused the mullah-controlled regime of being in league with the Taliban.

But now that Obama is in office, ironically enough, there is a better chance that Iran could end up helping the United States — also known as the “Great Satan” — and its allies. During his first state visit to Kabul in August 2007, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised Afghan President Hamid Karzai his full support in the struggle for stability. “The best friend of Iran,” Ahmadinejad insisted, “is a country that is economically powerful and developed.” So far, Iran has paid Afghanistan more than $1 billion (€770 million) in development aid. A usable long-distance road already exists in Afghanistan. India, one of the biggest investors in Karzai’s country, has built a road between the city of Zaranj on the Iranian border and Delaram, which lies about 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the northeast in Afghanistan. The road could link the Iranian port of Chabahar with Afghanistan’s turbulent south.

Taliban Steals U.S. military Supplies - And Sells Them (Watch Video)

Taliban Steals U.S. military Supplies - And Sells Them

(NSI News Source Info) February 18, 2009: Pakistani oil tankers carrying supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in southren Afghanistan's Kandahar province, wait for clearance to travel to Afghanistan at Pakistani border post in Chaman, Pakistan. Afghan and Pakistani truck drivers say their work is becoming increasingly risky, and some are becoming wary of crossing Taliban-held areas despite their relatively high pay. Because 75 percent of U.S. military supplies in Afghanistan come by road from Pakistan's ports, a functioning supply line through the Khyber Pass is critical.

Video: Taliban Steals U.S. military Supplies - and sells them - CBS

Video: Taliban Steals U.S. military Supplies - and sells them - CBS

U.S. Supplies Via Russia To Start Soon

U.S. Supplies Via Russia To Start Soon

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - February 16, 2009: The shipment of U.S. military supplies for Afghanistan through Russia will begin soon, news agencies quoted Russia's foreign minister as saying. “The transit will take place literally within days,” Sergey Lavrov told TV Tsentr on Saturday, according to the Interfax, ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti agencies.U.S. AND NATO SUPPLIES, NO LONGER VIABLE ROUTE VIA PAKISTAN: Soldiers of Pakistan's paramilitary force guard a newly built bridge to lead a trailer truck with U.S. and NATO supplies into Pakistani tribal area of Khyber neighboring Afghanistan on Friday, Feb. 6, 2009. A suicide car bomber blew himself up in the troubled Khyber tribal region after tribal police signaled him to halt during a routine check, government official said. The bridge was destroyed by militants Tuesday. Foreign Ministry officials could not be reached for comment late Saturday, and the reports did not say whether the supplies would transit Russia by land or air. However, Russia announced last week that it would allow U.S. shipments of non-lethal military supplies to Afghanistan. Supply routes to Afghanistan for the U.S.-led international military operation have become an increasingly critical issue in recent months amid growing militant attacks on the land routes through Pakistan that carry about 75 percent of U.S. supplies. The U.S. plans to send around 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan this year. Concerns rose further this month when Kyrgyzstan's president announced that the Central Asian country intends to evict a U.S. military base that is an important transit point for Afghanistan-bound troops and supplies. The base also is home to tanker planes that refuel military aircraft over Afghanistan. The planned closure — which still must be approved by the Kyrgyz parliament — was announced shortly after Russia announced an aid package totaling more than US$2 billion for the impoverished country. The timing led to wide speculation that the aid and the base closure were linked. Russian officials have denied any linkage, but the Kremlin is clearly uncomfortable with a U.S. military presence in the ex-Soviet republic that it regards as part of its traditional sphere of influence. But Russia recently has shown renewed willingness to help the international forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Russia also has responded favorably to President Barack Obama's go-slow approach on a proposed U.S. missile shield in Europe and recent signs of U.S. accord with Moscow. After agreeing this month to the transit of non-lethal U.S. supplies to Afghanistan, Lavrov raised the prospect that Russia could also agree to allow the transshipment of U.S. armaments — presumably in exchange for U.S. concessions such as backing off from support for NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine and from the proposals to put elements of a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

U.S. To Transit Non-Military Cargo To Afghanistan Via Russia

U.S. To Transit Non-Military Cargo To Afghanistan Via Russia

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - February 14, 2009: The United States will transit a consignment of non-military supplies to Afghanistan via Russian territory in the next few days, the Russian foreign minister said on Friday. The announcement comes a little more than a week after Washington requested Moscow's permission to send several containers of non-military cargoes to Afghanistan via Russia. "We confirmed without delay that we are ready to do this since it is fully in accordance with the agreement that was previously reached with NATO, and this transit will go ahead within the next few days," Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the TVC Channel. Russia and NATO signed a framework agreement on the transit of non-military cargos in April 2008. Moscow said last Friday it would allow the transit of non-military supplies for U.S. troops in Afghanistan as soon as Washington provided Moscow with cargo specifications. Several NATO nations, including France, Germany and Canada, already transport so-called non-lethal supplies to their contingents in Afghanistan via Russia under bilateral agreements. Due to worsening security on the main land route from Pakistan and the expected closure of a U.S. airbase in Kyrgyzstan, NATO is seeking alternative routes to supply the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. There are 62,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, and new U.S. President Barrack Obama has pledged to deploy another 30,000 U.S. military personnel to the war-ravaged country. Despite the recent deterioration in relations with NATO, Russia has continued to support the military alliance's operations in Afghanistan.

US Supplies Shrinking In Afghanistan

US Supplies Shrinking In Afghanistan

(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - February 3, 2009: The milk is now pulled from the mess hall by 9 a.m., to ration the limited supply. At the Camp Phoenix base store nearby, the shelves look bare. There's no Irish Spring Body Wash, no Doritos, no Tostitos Scoops, no Bayer Aspirin. "We're having the same problems all over Afghanistan," said Randy Barnes, who manages warehouses for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, which operates stores at many of the bases where U.S. troops are deployed in the war on terror here. For the Soldiers at Camp Phoenix, about 650 of whom are from the Illinois National Guard, the missing supplies underscore what senior military officials have been saying for months: U.S. and coalition troops must find new routes to supply what will be a rapidly growing force in Afghanistan, ones that avoid the treacherous border areas of Pakistan where convoys have been ambushed. Supplying an army in any war is crucial; it's not just bullets and bombs, but everything from fuel to lettuce, that must be shipped in by the ton and the truckload. And a country like Afghanistan -- landlocked, mountainous and with few good roads -- poses enormously difficult challenges even without attacks by militants. Gen. David Petraeus, the chief of U.S. Central Command, announced late last month that the military had reached transit deals with Russia and several Central Asian states to the north of Afghanistan, to provide an alternate route from Pakistan. But it's not yet clear whether any new route would be able to absorb the heavy traffic. "It is very important as we increase the effort in Afghanistan that we have multiple routes that go into the country," Petraeus said. President Barack Obama has made the fight against militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan -- rather than in Iraq -- his top priority in the war on terror. His administration is expected to send as many as 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the coming months. The supply-route challenge is politically sensitive; as long as the U.S. and coalition troops depend on Pakistan to move supplies, it's difficult to be too critical of its government's help in the war on terror. Some in Washington have questioned Pakistan's commitment. But a route through Russia and neighboring countries is not necessarily a long-term solution either. The over-land route is much longer and more expensive, and dealing with repressive regimes in Central Asia also could pose political dilemmas. Sensitive military goods, such as weapons and ammunition, are transported by military convoy or air, and have not been hurt by supply-route problems, officials say. Air transport for non-combat goods is prohibitively expensive and also logistically difficult. Right now, subcontractors transport about 75 percent of non-sensitive military goods for U.S. troops and a smaller but significant amount for NATO troops from the port in Karachi, Pakistan, through the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan. About 125 shipping containers pass through that crossing daily. It's the shortest route to Kabul and Bagram Air Base, the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan, yet it goes through narrow roads, mountain passes and hostile areas. Despite the risk, security is often lax. In recent months, Taliban-led militants have frequently attacked the military shipping containers, often stored by these subcontractors just outside Peshawar, Pakistan, in five ramshackle yards with little security and no barbed wire. Militants have destroyed more than 300 shipping containers so far, torching at least 80 Humvees for the Afghan National Army. Pakistani officials blamed the subcontractors for sacrificing security for profit. "There are two or three guards, no lights, no cameras. An office consists of an empty container, two broken-down chairs, no phone and no fax line," said Tariq Hayat Khan, the political agent for Khyber tribal agency, which includes the main road from Peshawar to Torkham. "By no stretch of the imagination can you call them shipping terminals. They've just started leveling fields and stacking containers. All they do is charge money and deliver from Point A to Point B." Because of the escalating number of attacks, Pakistan has suspended traffic through this crossing three times in the past seven weeks to launch offensives against militants. At the other major crossing in Pakistan, through Chaman in Baluchistan province, tribesmen blockaded the road for five days recently because a tribesman was killed, stranding hundreds of trucks and fuel tankers. Barnes said some of the destroyed containers set on fire near Peshawar were bound for stores at U.S. military bases. He said his company was still determining what was lost. In a roadside bomb attack on the route a couple weeks ago, four shipping containers filled with "near beer," soda and water for the troops were hit, dooming the entire shipment bound for Camp Phoenix and Camp Eggers, said Lt. Col. Eric Little, 37, of Springfield, the garrison commander for Camp Phoenix. Only at the end of January -- a month late -- did the last of 21 shipping containers with the personal goods of Illinois National Guard Soldiers arrive at Camp Phoenix. "The majority of stuff makes it from Point A to Point B -- but not necessarily timely," said Little, adding that finding other supply routes was a necessity. Taliban-led militants are not the only ones to blame. Some drivers are known to steal fuel and supplies from the trucks, or fake militant attacks and sell the goods, commonly available at markets in Kabul and near Bagram. Islamic holidays and tribal conflicts have also been used as an excuse for the massive delays. Although the supply-route problems are not yet hurting the military effort here, they affect daily life at the bases, at least at Camp Phoenix, usually one of the most well-stocked because it is in the capital. "I've never seen the store this empty, ever," said Ula Loi, the store manager. The troops can still get medicine from the medical tents, where the stocked supplies are plentiful, so the only immediate shortages are quality-of-life ones, which probably won't win much sympathy from Soldiers in more remote bases. Still, most snacks, half the beauty products, and all the adapter plugs and combination locks are sold out. Last week, several Illinois National Guard Soldiers complained about the empty shelves -- one traded a pack of spare razor blades for a bag of chips, neither of which were available. "They don't even have any Vaseline," said 2nd Lt. Michael Quam, 27, from Dubuque, Iowa, who wanted Vaseline for an Afghan friend whose wife just had a baby.