KARACHI: A vessel carrying over 600 military vehicles, destined for US forces in Afghanistan, docked at the Karachi port recently.

Such a consignment has arrived after a gap of over six months and will be delivered to US army units stationed in the war-ravaged country.

According to official documents, the vehicles were shipped from the Wilmington port and aboard the vessel ‘MV Glovis Sun’ along with other equipment that were unloaded at the Karachi port last month.

Though the category of the trucks was not specified in the documents, port sources said they were Humvee vehicles which were under extensive use of the US army in Afghanistan.

About six months ago, another vessel carrying a small number of Humvee vehicles was unloaded at the Karachi port. The documents confirm that the importer of the consignment was the US army and dates for the bill of lading were in April and May. The vehicles have a capacity of 2.5 tonnes.

The US has decided to increase the number of its troops in Afghanistan by another 4,500 men, adding to its current strength of 8,500 personnel, according to sources. The American personnel are engaged in the advisory, training and assistance missions, including counterterrorism and air support for the Afghan security forces.

In May, the US army deployed 1,500 Special Forces soldiers to Afghanistan, where attacks by the militant Islamic State group have threatened the stability of the US-backed government.

Analysts believe that the arrival of a larger number of military vehicles indicated that the US was planning to prolong its presence in Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2017