September 09, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1429

LANDI KOTAL, Sept 8: Fuel and other supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan resumed on Monday as dozens of oil tankers and container trailers rolled across the Torkham border after three days of suspension.

Pakistan had announced a temporary ban on supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan via the Torkham border Friday last, with the Federal Defence Ministry and the Interior Ministry citing conflicting reasons.

Officials of the political administration in the Khyber Agency had conveyed to transporters verbally on Friday that all supplies had been halted till further orders due to a surge in militants’ attacks on Nato-related vehicles on the Peshawar-Torkham highway during the last couple of months.

But Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar had told a private TV channel in Islamabad on Saturday that the suspension was in retaliation to direct US-led forces’ attacks in Waziristan, which resulted in killing of more than 20 local people, including women and children.

However, Rehman Malik, adviser to the prime minister on interior affairs, had cited security reasons for suspension of fuel and other supplies and insisted that the supplies had been halted only for a few hours.

Local transporters were, however, reluctant to resume transportation of fuel and other goods for Nato forces, fearing attacks by local militants.

Local militants had in June threatened to blow up vehicles and kill its drivers taking supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan. Since then, nearly two dozen containers were targeted by militants near the Torkham border, also killing one of the drivers and kidnapping three others. At least four containers were looted during the last three weeks.

Abdullah, a local transporter in Torkham, told Dawn that they had agreed to resume supplies only after an assurance by the political administration to provide security to them on the Peshawar-Torkhum route.

It was also learnt that the Khyber Agency’s administration intended to establish additional checkpoints on the route to check the surging attacks on oil tankers and container trailers.