This appology does not mean anything as it will open the same routes which are used to arm and fund terrorist in our own country...a backstab to the nation...we should have planned to close the NATO routes permenantly...can someone draw the analogy between CIA and AL CIAda
NATO chief apologizes, Pakistani Taleban vow revenge
NATO chief apologizes, Pakistani Taleban vow revenge | ArabNews
Angered by repeated attacks by NATO helicopters on militant targets within its borders, Pakistan blocked one of the supply routes for NATO troops in Afghanistan after a strike killed three Pakistani soldiers in the western Kurram region.
I expressed my regret for the incident last week in which Pakistani soldiers lost their lives, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after meeting Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Brussels.
I expressed my hope the border will be open for supplies as soon as possible.
The apology came after gunmen attacked a convoy of trucks taking goods to Western forces in Afghanistan on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital.
Senior police officer Mirwaiz Niaz said at least a dozen gunmen opened fire on tankers at a depot near Islamabad late on Sunday, killing three guards. They then set fire to 13 vehicles.
Pakistani Taleban militants claimed responsibility.
We will continue such attacks all over the country to avenge drone attacks and attacks by foreign forces inside Pakistani territory, Taleban spokesman Azam Tariq told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Hours later, suspected militants attacked trawlers carrying supplies for NATO through the southwestern province of Baluchistan, killing one man, police said.
Pakistan has officially said the border has been closed for security reasons and the Taleban threat of more attacks will likely prolong the closure of the vital supply route now in its fifth day and further strain ties with ally Washington, which has long demanded Pakistan crack down on militants.
About half of all non-lethal supplies for western forces in land-locked Afghanistan pass through Pakistan, giving Pakistan considerable leverage over the United States, which is scrambling to contain a raging Taleban insurgency in Afghanistan before it starts withdrawing troops in July next year.
Efforts are underway to resolve this issue, but there is a lot of anger in Pakistan about the border incursion, a senior Pakistani government official told Reuters.
ISAF spokesman Major Joel Harper told Reuters in Kabul recent attacks in Pakistan have no immediate impact less than 1 percent of all trucks and traffic experience any pilferage or damage.
That said ... it is an important element of the Pakistani economy, its important to our logistics stocks. As attacks take place, NATO has no alternative but to seek other routes into Afghanistan we are exploring other logistics routes with other countries in the north.
NATO maintains a northern distribution network through Russia and central Asian republics for about 30 percent of its non-lethal supplies, Harper said.
Despite its anger, Pakistan cant afford to long antagonise an ally that provides $2 billion in military aid a year aid vital for Pakistans own fight against militants, analysts say.
There has to be some solution and I think there will be one. But there is an anger and you have to address it, a Pakistani security official said.
Officials at the US embassy in Islamabad said despite the protests by Pakistan and the closing of the border, cooperation in flood relief missions and security assistance continues.
Cooperation is continuing on a lot of levels. Contextually, were still in a better place than we were two years ago in terms of cooperation, said a senior embassy official. From that perspective, were working now to address their concerns.
Rasmussen said the killing of the three Pakistani soldiers was unintended and showed the need to improve coordination between the NATO and the Pakistani military. He said a joint investigation was under way.
It is important we step up our cooperation, he said.
That cooperation could be slow in coming, however, because the US CIA has escalated its unacknowledged campaign of pilotless drone strikes against Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistans northwest, with 21 attacks in September, the highest number in a single month on record.
Civilian casualties caused by the drone strikes have infuriated many Pakistanis and made it harder for the government to cooperate with the United States.
The strikes preceded warnings by Britain and the United States of an increased risk of terrorist attacks in Europe, with Washington saying Al-Qaeda might target transport infrastructure.
Pakistan is under heavy US pressure to crack down harder on militants in the northwest of the country near the Afghan border, parts of which are described as a global hub for extremists.
(Additional reporting by Chris Allbritton, Faisal Mehmood and Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad, and Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan; Writing by Chris Allbritton; Editing by Robert Birsel and Sugita Katyal)
