Washington: The Pentagon has said that the terror strike on the NATO supply trucks in Islamabad in which seven people were killed and at least 60 trailers were torched, would not affect the supply lines for the US and international forces stationed in Afghanistan.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman described the attack as a “vicious attack of some scale”, but made it clear that it would not dent NATO’s ‘overall’ operations in the region.
“Fifty or sixty containers is not a small attack by any means, but you look at that in terms of its impact on our overall operations, it`s not going to have an effect,” The News quoted Whitman, as saying.
The incident has once again raised concerns regarding the supply routes being used to transport fuel and other military and non-military materials to Afghanistan.
However, the US Transportation Command is not perturbed by the terror strike, as it says there are other options available to transports goods to the war-ravaged country.
“We have options,” said Cynthia Bowers, spokeswoman for the US Transportation Command.
It is pertinent to mention here that about half of the cargo from food to various equipment that the command moves to Afghanistan goes via Pakistan through the Khyber pass.
“Another 30 percent now enters the country from the relatively secure north, carried by train across Russia and Central Asia,” said Bowers.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that his government has decided to develop a comprehensive security mechanism for NATO supplies.
“Investigation are underway regarding attack on NATO supplies near Islamabad as a private security company was hired for guarding the supply loading yard. A comprehensive security plan for NATO supplies will be formed soon after thorough consultations with concerned departments,” Malik told reporters in Islamabad.
ANI
