Imran Khan`s party blocks key highway to Afghanistan

Peshawar: Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan`s party on Saturday blocked a key highway and a border crossing connecting the country`s northwest to Afghanistan as part of a protest against US drone strikes. The Ring Road, the main supply route for NATO container trucks, and the Torkham crossing on the Afghan border were blocked due to the rally by the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf.

Containers were placed on the Ring Road to obstruct supply trucks as Khan`s supporters gathered for the rally in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province that is ruled by the Tehrik-e-Insaf. Besides Khan, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hasan and other leaders would attend the rally. The provincial cabinet yesterday strongly condemned a drone strike in Hangu district on Thursday that killed six persons and decided to hold demonstrations and rallies in front of UN offices, the US Consulate in Peshawar and the parliament in Islamabad. Addressing a news conference, provincial Information Minister Shah Farman said the cabinet had formed a three-member committee to contact leaders of political parties to participate in the protests. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government considers US drone strikes as attacks on Pakistan`s sovereignty and wants the federal government to take concrete action on the issue. It urged the federal government to call an All-Parties Conference to forge consensus on stopping the US drone strikes. Thursday`s drone strike, a rare attack outside Pakistan`s tribal areas by CIA-operated spy planes, killed at least three commanders of the dreaded Haqqani terror network.