Well Kinda-sorta ! Non Military items only ! it's a start , like the old saying goes " where there is a will there is a way " And the will of the U.S. Military is very strong !
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DUSHANBE (Reuters) - Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will allow the transit by land of non-military NATO cargo to Afghanistan, a U.S. commander said on Friday, as Washington seeks alternative supply routes for its troops there.
Rear Admiral Mark Harnitchek of the U.S. Transportation Command said the United States planned to send 50 to 200 containers a week to Afghanistan through the two countries.
The announcement follows a decision by pro-Moscow Kyrgyzstan to close the only U.S. air base in Central Asia, accusing Washington of refusing to pay more rent for the base.
It sent a formal notice to the U.S. ambassador in the capital Bishkek on Friday, giving U.S. troops 180 days to leave.
Despite the eviction notice, the Pentagon said the United States still believed it could reach a deal with Kyrgyzstan to maintain the Manas base, a key hub for moving personnel and equipment into Afghanistan for U.S. and NATO forces.
"I continue to believe this is not a closed issue but that there remains potential to reopen this with the Kyrgyz and to reach a new agreement," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in Krakow, Poland, where NATO defense ministers were meeting.
Kyrgyzstan's decision removes one of the U.S. military's supply routes into Afghanistan as Washington prepares to send more troops to the country to fight a Taliban insurgency that is growing in strength there and in neighboring Pakistan.
The United States and its allies fly troops and supplies from bases in Europe and the Gulf and could increase this traffic to make up for the loss of Manas air base.
Friday, February 20, 2009
U.S. secures Afghan supply route
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A new supply route to Afghanistan
An agreement for a new supply route to Afghanistan between NATO, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is almost complete. This will give NATO an alternate route instead of having to exclusively transport its supplies through Pakistan. This year the taliban have staged some attacks on NATO convoys. APBRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — A NATO official says talks on setting up an alternate supply route to Afghanistan are at an advanced stage — an issue of growing urgency because of intensifying attacks by pro-Taliban forces on convoys in Pakistan.
The official who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter says diplomatic efforts are nearing conclusion on the new route for military supplies that will pass through Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
NATO supply route resumed in Pakistan
NATO shouldn't be relying on Pakistan for protection of NATO supplies for Afghanistan. Expect to see many more taliban attacks on NATO convoys inside Pakistan. The taliban are planning on starving NATO out of supplies. XinhuanetISLAMABAD, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The supply route in Pakistan, a lifeline for U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan, was resumed on Monday after a week-long suspension due to militant attacks.
A convoy of oil tankers and trucks carrying supplies left for Afghanistan under tight security on Monday, News Network International (NNI) news agency said.
The NNI quoted an official in northwestern Pakistan's Khyber agency as saying that a convoy of around 160 supply vehicles and oil tankers was sent to Afghanistan with escort of 17 vehicles of security forces.
The militants have carried out five attacks on vehicles carrying supplies for the NATO forces in Afghanistan near Peshawar, capital city of North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in the past ten days.
More than 300 trucks, including army jeeps, have been torched in these attacks, which led to suspension of supplies, reports said.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Taliban attack NATO supply trucks in Peshawar
The taliban attack another NATO convoy inside Pakistan near Peshawar. This is the 6th such attack since November. Although these attacks are insignificant when considering the whole logistic operations. However, it does show a shift in strategy for the taliban. Instead of battling NATO forces which would result in heavy taliban loses they are going after NATO's soft underbelly, convoys travelling through Pakistan.GEOPESHAWAR: Suspected militants lodged rocket attack on a truck depot at Bilal Terminal in Peshawar near the border with the Khyber Agency in the country's restive tribal areas, destroying NATO supply trucks bound for Afghanistan, Peshawar police said.
The latest attack took place Saturday at 03:00 a.m., police said. Multiple explosions rocked the Bilal Terminal near Ring Road in Peshawar. Sources said that militants also threw petrol bomb on the truck depot.
Police said three or four blasts sparked a fire. Fire has engulfed the terminal meanwhile; fire tenders have been dispatched on the scene of fire. It was the sixth attack on NATO supply lines through Pakistan since November.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Taliban raids Nato convoys for second night
The taliban attacked a NATO supply base, not even a mile away from the distribution terminal that was attack yesterday, burning an additional 50 vehicles. The taliban terrorist scum were able to "overpower" the security guards and disarm them.
Some security Pakistan gives us, it's only for show. In the previous attack which saw 160 NATO vehicles torched, only a couple of lightly armed guards were protecting the warehouse. In another attack which the taliban captured a couple of Humvees, the Pakistani military was a silent spectator.
Pakistan is our weakest point in the war against islamic terrorists.TelegraphThe attack came barely 24 hours after 200 militants destroyed more than 100 lorries in a Nato base barely a mile away. The trucks are needed to ferry vital equipment and supplies through the perilous Khyber Pass - the narrow mountain trail leading from Pakistan into Afghanistan.
"The militants came just past midnight, firing in the air, sprinkled petrol on containers and then set them on fire," said Mohammad Zaman, a security guard at the site quoted by Reuters.
"They told us they would not harm us, but they asked us not to work for the Americans."[...]
A senior police officer said the attack took place at 2.30am. "They fired rockets, hurled hand grenades and then set ablaze over one hundred trucks," he said.
One guard was killed and a fire swept through the parked vehicles. "They were shouting Allah-o-Akbar (God is Great) and Down With America. They broke into the terminals after snatching guns from us," said Mohammad Rafiullah, a security guard the the terminal.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
More than 160 US, NATO vehicles burned in Pakistan
I believe the Pakistani military is turning a blind eye to all of the attacks on NATO's supply route. The last time the taliban attacked a NATO supply convoy, stealing a couple of Humvees, the Pakistani army was accused of being "silent spectators".
This time an entire logistics terminal was attacked destroying up to 160 military vehicles including 70 Humvees. One of the owners of the terminal stated that the Pakistani army had only stationed a couple of lightly armed guards.
What will it take before our governments realize that Pakistan is not really not our side.PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen blasted their way into two transport terminals in Pakistan on Sunday and torched more than 160 vehicles destined for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan, in the biggest assault yet on a vital military supply line, officials said.
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The U.S. military said its losses in the raid near the northwestern city of Peshawar would have "minimal" impact on anti-Taliban operations, set to expand with the arrival of thousands more American troops next year.
However, the attack will fuel concern that insurgents are trying to choke the route through the famed Khyber Pass, which carries up to 70 percent of the supplies for Western forces in landlocked Afghanistan, and drive up the cost of the war.
The owner of one of the terminals hit Sunday denied government claims that security was boosted after a raid last month near the pass in which militants made off with one Humvee and later paraded it before journalists.
"We don't feel safe here at all," Kifayatullah Khan told The Associated Press next to the still-smouldering vehicles, predicting that most of his night watchmen would now quit their jobs out of fear. "It is almost impossible for us to continue with this business."
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Pakistan vows to recover hijacked supplies
The taliban hijacked 13 trucks carrying supplies, including two Humvees, to NATO forces in Afghanistan without even firing a single shot. Locals accuse the Pakistani army of being a "silent spectator".
Now the Pakistani army is vowing to recapture the stolen supplies. I don't share their confidence. ReutersLANDIKOTAL, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces aim to recapture trucks hijacked by militants as they were taking supplies to Western forces in Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, a government official said Tuesday.[...]
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Pakistani Taliban militants hijacked 13 trucks without firing a shot as they passed through the Khyber Pass Monday. The gunmen later posed for photographs in front of two Humvee military vehicles and some of the trucks.
Security forces had blocked the main road from the northwestern city of Peshawar through the pass to the border at Torkham in preparation for a recovery operation, and army helicopters later attacked militants, government officials said.The trucks were carrying two Humvees and wheat but no weapons or ammunition, another official said. The militants unloaded the trucks and abandoned them but held most of the drivers.[...]
Officials said the militants who seized the trucks were loyal to notorious Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, who is based in the Waziristan region to the southwest of Khyber.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Terrorists hijack trucks supplying NATO forces in Afghanistan
The timing is no coincidence. Pakistan trying to hurt NATO forces because of all the air-strikes targeting terrorists inside Pakistan. Last week during General Petraeus' visit to Pakistan he got an earful from the Pakistani government about NATO airstrikes inside Pakistan. Government officials claim that US air-strikes inside Pakistan are counter-productive to the War on Terror.
The Pakistani army "is a silent spectator. [Terrorists] attack [supply] trucks, loot them and kill our drivers in broad daylight, even near security checkposts".
This is the only way that Pakistan can hurt NATO forces in Afghanistan by cutting off their supplies. This isn't the first time either. Right after the US commando raid inside Pakistan's tribal area, NATOs fuel shipments were suspended by Pakistani officials.
Pakistan is using the terrorists to disrupt NATO's supply in order to insulate themselves from blame. Yahoo NewsLANDIKOTAL, Pakistan (Reuters) – Militants in northwest Pakistan hijacked 13 trucks carrying supplies for Western forces in Afghanistan on Monday as they passed through the Khyber Pass, a government official said.
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Most supplies, including fuel, for U.S. and other Western forces battling a Taliban insurgency in landlocked Afghanistan are trucked through neighboring Pakistan, which is also facing growing militant violence.[...]
The trucks were seized at four places along a 35 km (20 mile) stretch of the road, said a senior government administrator in the Khyber region.
"About 60 masked gunmen popped up on the road and took away the trucks with their drivers. Not a single shot was fired anywhere," the official, Bakhtiar Mohmand, told Reuters.In Landikotal, the main town before the pass, traders and transport company operators complained that the government wasn't taking security on the road seriously.
"The government is a silent spectator. They attack our trucks, loot them and kill our drivers in broad daylight, even near security checkposts, but they can't do anything," said Eshtiar Mohmand, who owns a trucking company.
