WASHINGTON: The US State Department has said that the United States and the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) had never used the Karachi port to transport weapons and explosives.

A Rangers spokesman told reporters in Karachi this week that they found weapons and ammunition stolen from Nato containers when they raided the MQM headquarters, Nine Zero, on Wednesday.

The State Department, however, has sent out two tweets, rejecting the claim.

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“For general information: The United States and Isaf have never used the Karachi port to transport weapons/explosives,” said the first tweet.

In the second tweet, the State Department rejected the suggestion that weapons or explosives found at Nine Zero could have come from Nato containers.

“Since there exists a strict and effective system for transporting weapons around the world, such incidents are impossible,” it said.

The United States has been using the Karachi port for supplying American and Nato troops in Afghanistan since it invaded the country in October 2001. The US administration has always insisted that it does not use the port for transporting weapons and ammunition as those are brought through other routes.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2015

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