Islamabad, October 3
Incensed over the terror attacks on NATO supply trucks travelling to Afghanistan through Pakistan, US-led allied forces have warned Islamabad they would abandon Pakistan as a major supply route to the war-torn country if such assaults are not prevented.

The increase in the number of terror attacks on NATO convoys coupled with the floods in Pakistan that washed away several key bridges and highways have forced the US-led allied forces in Afghanistan to seek alternative supply routes, the News International quoted diplomatic sources in Islamabad as saying.

The NATO convoys passing through Pakistan are the principal source of logistical support for the US-led allied forces in Afghanistan. It is the shortest and most economical route and almost 75 per cent of ammunition, vehicles, foodstuff and around 50 per cent of fuel have been transported through Pakistan.

Islamabad receives a massive reimbursement of economic and military assistance from the US for providing these logistical facilities to Afghanistan.

On September 30, a cross-border helicopter attack killed three Pakistani troops, prompting Pakistan to block a key supply route for the US-led NATO force in Afghanistan.

Around 100 NATO vehicles are held up at Pakistan's border with Afghanistan and 27 oil tankers carrying fuel for the NATO forces were set ablaze by Taliban-linked militants in the Shikarpur district of the Sindh province Thursday night.

Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said a few weeks back that NATO was responsible for the safety of its supply lines, and that Pakistan cannot provide security to the 4,000 trucks that travel across the country every day.

Statistics show that in a brief span of one month, in September, as many as 22 NATO convoys were targeted by the militants, taking the tally of such assaults for the year 2010 to 55.

The US was keen to secure three different alternative supply routes for Afghanistan.

The first one is the northern route that starts in the Latvian port of Riga, the largest all-weather harbour on the Baltic Sea, where container ships offload their cargo onto Russian trains. The shipments can then go south through Russia, then southeast around the Caspian Sea through Kazakhstan and finally south through Uzbekistan until they cross the frontier into north Afghanistan.

The second alternative is the southern route that transits the Caucuses, completely bypassing Russia, from Georgia. Starting from the Black Sea port, Ponti, it travels north to Azerbaijan and its port, Baku. Landfall is Kazakhstan, where the goods are carried by trucks to Uzbekistan and finally Afghanistan.

A third one is a spur of the northern route and it bypasses Uzbekistan and proceeds from Kazakhstan via Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which has a northeast border with Afghanistan. But this route is hampered by bad road conditions in Tajikistan. — IANS

Canberra, October 3
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has assured the Australian troops in Afghanistan of her commitment to the Oruzgan mission during a surprise visit to the war-torn country. According to The Australian, Gillard welcomed a debate on the war as a chance to build public support, as the US team leader rejected calls for tanks to be deployed in Oruzgan province.

Gillard said a grateful nation stood behind Australia’s forces, who were performing a “critical” task that was clearly in the “national interest”, despite growing doubts about the war and the apparent fracturing of a political consensus over its conduct.

She made the comments at the Combined Team Oruzgan base at Tarin Kowt on her first foray on to the international stage as the Prime Minister. “I did want to make sure that my very first trip as Prime Minister was to here, to come and see you and say hello to you,” she told the troops at a lunch. — ANI

London/Islamabad, October 3
Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who in 1999 overthrew the government of Nawaz Sharif, believes the two-time premier lacks intellect and is “totally brainless”.

Musharraf, who launched his All Pakistan Muslim League in the UK and announced his return to active politics said Sharif lost power twice as he lacked intellect.

“Nawaz Sharif lost power twice because he lacked intellect,” Musharraf, who also apologised to the people for the mistakes of his regime, told hundreds of supporters in Birmingham last evening.

“I worked with him for an entire year and noticed that Nawaz Sharif is totally brainless,” Musharraf was quoted as saying by the News International.

Musharraf said his party, All Pakistan Muslim League, would be accountable to people and have a democratic structure where power would not be inherited.

“If voted to power, we will be accountable to the people. Our party will have a democratic structure and power will not be inherited,” he said.

Sharif, who was thrown out by Musharraf in a bloodless coup, is considered a bitter foe of the former president.

Outside the venue of the rally, members of pan-Islamic body Hizbut Tahrir gathered in a peaceful protest. — PTI

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