PESHAWAR, Dec 17: Goods meant for International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan are being pilfered and in some cases containers full of goods have gone missing.

According to sources, the transit facility for Isaf supplies is being misused like the goods in transit to Afghanistan.

Since 2003, ships carrying Isaf cargo dock at Port Qasim and Karachi Port, where goods are loaded on trucks for transportation to bases of allied forces in Afghanistan via Chaman and Torkham.Since the goods are exempted from customs duties and routine verification, possibility of pilferage was greater more than in the case of Afghan transit trade, the sources said.

They said that containers were pilfered in southern Punjab and tribal areas and stolen goods found their way into different markets, including the Karkhano Bazaar in Peshawar.

They sources said the authorities were unable to trace more than 400 containers which had been given transportation permits at the ports but they never reached Afghanistan.

The customs department has no record of exit of more than 2,000 containers. During investigation, Isaf and Afghan authorities confirmed having received about 1,300 of the containers, the sources said.

They said the customs department had registered around 200 cases, mostly against clearing agents in Peshawar, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Karachi.

The missing containers included 29 shipped by an American company on fake documents, the sources claimed.

The customs intelligence in Peshawar found that the consignment mostly comprised electronic goods, while the company was in construction business.