June 19, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 14, 1429

KABUL, June 18: The US-led coalition in Afghanistan said on Wednesday that four US helicopter engines worth more than $13 million had gone missing while being transported by a Pakistani truck company.

“Four helicopter engines transported by a Pakistani truck company to Coalition Joint Task Force 101 went missing. The exact location is not determined yet,” coalition spokesman Christian Patterson said.

The engines went missing before the 101st Airborne took command of the coalition in Afghanistan on April 11, Patterson said.

“They were being sent from Bagram to Fort Bragg, USA. The collective value of the engines is worth 13.2 million dollars,” he added.

International forces in Afghanistan must transport much of their military equipment overland via Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led war on terror. Ties plummeted to their lowest ebb last week after Islamabad said that a US air strike killed 11 Pakistani soldiers near the border.

Days later Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that Kabul would be justified in launching attacks on militants on Pakistani soil, provoking an angry response from Islamabad.—AFP