WASHINGTON, Oct 5: Pakistan has accepted a US proposal to dye a fertiliser that is widely used in Afghanistan for making improvised explosive devices, diplomatic sources told Dawn.

The US military says that upwards of 80 per cent of the IEDs are made using calcium ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser produced in and imported into Pakistan, typically for agricultural purposes.

The United States recently asked Pakistan to dye the fertiliser red so that it could be easily detected by border guards along the Pak-Afghan border. “We have accepted the proposal and have already started colouring the fertiliser,” said a Pakistani official when contacted.

“We are willing to do whatever we can to overcome this problem as the IEDs also kill hundreds of Pakistanis.”

The Pakistanis, however, argue that more than 200,000 tons of fertilisers are produced in the country every year and less than a ton is required for making all the IEDs that are used in the region.

“That’s why we believe our Americans and Afghan allies need to enhance detection facilities at the border,” said the Pakistani official. “Colouring the fertiliser will definitely help detection but they need to do more.”