[Fresh Ink] Militants in Pakistan Destroy NATO Trucks

[Richard Menec]

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/08/world/asia/08pstan.html>

December 8, 2008

Militants in Pakistan Destroy NATO Trucks

By JANE PERLEZ

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - More than 100 trucks loaded with supplies for American 
forces in Afghanistan were destroyed Sunday by militants in Peshawar, the 
city that serves as an important transit point for the Afghan war effort.

It was the third major attack by Taliban militants on NATO supplies in 
Pakistan in less than a month, and served to expose the vulnerability of the 
route from the port of Karachi through Peshawar and over the border into 
Afghanistan. The United States relies on the route for an overwhelming 
proportion of its supplies for the war in Afghanistan.

The damaged trucks were loaded with American war materiel, including 
Humvees, destined for the Afghan National Army, said Col. Greg Julian, a 
spokesman for United States forces in Kabul.

The militants overwhelmed the rudimentary security system at two parking 
lots where the trucks were parked in the heart of Peshawar. They easily 
disarmed security guards at about 2:30 a.m., then threw grenades and fired 
rockets at the loaded trucks.

"We were unable to challenge such a large number of armed men," said 
Muhammad Rafiq, a security guard. He estimated that about 200 militants were 
involved in the attack.

Pakistani security forces apparently fired artillery at the attackers. 
"There was artillery and rapid exchange of fire," said a retired police 
official, Hidyatullah Arbab, who heard the firing from his home. "Peshawar 
is becoming a battleground." Colonel Julian said the loss of equipment would 
have a minimum impact on the overall war effort.

"It's a very insignificant loss in terms of everything transported into 
Afghanistan."

But critics of the war effort in Afghanistan have argued that the United 
States needs to more urgently shape the Afghan Army into an effective 
fighting force. The loss of supplies to the Afghan army would be a setback 
in that endeavor.

About 80 percent of supplies for the war move from Karachi through Pakistan 
and onto Afghanistan. Peshawar is the last staging point before the border 
about 40 miles away, about an hour's journey.

>From Peshawar, the Pakistani trucks loaded with the military supplies travel 
through the Khyber section of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. The 
Khyber area is almost totally controlled by various factions of the Taliban, 
and many civilian government officials no longer dare to travel the road 
that the trucks use.

The Pakistani government said two weeks ago it had beefed up protection for 
the supply trucks along the route.

But the ease with which the militants destroyed the vehicles on Sunday 
exposed the susceptibility of stationary equipment to attack, even in the 
center of a city that houses the 11th Corps of the Pakistani army.

Earlier this month, militants attacked another parking area in Peshawar. 
About 12 trucks with NATO supplies were ruined in that attack.

Perhaps the most brazen attack came on Nov. 10, when about 60 Taliban 
militants hijacked a convoy of trucks as it traveled through the Khyber road 
in broad daylight.

To make their point, the militants offloaded a Humvee, called photographers 
and then posed in front of the vehicle, rifles in hand and their banner 
draped over the hood.

The Pakistani government is eager to hold onto the trucking business that 
supplies the war in Afghanistan. The companies that control the trucks are a 
powerful constituency in Karachi, the port city, and the revenue from the 
supply route is important, particularly in the midst of a national economic 
crisis.

But the truck owners complain that the government is impotent in the face of 
the Taliban. The hijacking of the truck convoy last month was carried out by 
Taliban loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the umbrella group called 
Tehrik-e-Taliban.

After that incident, one trucker said the government had stood by, a "silent 
spectator." The Taliban attacked and looted his trucks, and killed his 
drivers even as they passed near security check posts, he said. The 
Pakistani military had proved unable to stop them, he said.

The three attacks in less than a month makes the need for alternate routes 
more urgent, Colonel Julian said.

The American military has said that it is looking to supply the Afghan war 
theater through Central Asia, and once negotiations are completed to move 
material through the new routes, the dependence on Pakistan will diminish, 
American military officials have said.

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