NATO supplies not moving as concerns remain over possible actions by drone strike protesters скачать в хорошем качестве

NATO supplies not moving as concerns remain over possible actions by drone strike protesters

(27 Nov 2013) Trucks carrying NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) troop supplies to Afghanistan remained stuck in Pakistan on Tuesday as concern lingered over further possible action by anti-US drone demonstrators. The protest by supporters of Pakistani politician and former cricket star Imran Khan began began three days ago in northwest Pakistan. "Around fifteen hundred NATO supply and Afghan Trade Transit Trucks are stuck after the protest," said Himayat Shah, General Secretary of All Pakistan Combined Trucks and Trailers Welfare Association. "Some are standing at terminals, some at the port area and others are struck in different cities of the country en route to Afghanistan" he added. The road which Khan's supporters have blocked, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leads to one of two routes used to ship NATO supplies to Afghanistan. Companies have also mostly stopped sending trucks to the second crossing in southwest Baluchistan province. "We are waiting here because on the route to Afghanistan protesters are manhandling the drivers. Some of our colleagues have had their arms broken, or suffered head wounds," truck driver Muhammad Aijaz told AP Television. Officials will review the situation on Wednesday and decide whether to let the trucks move. Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party, which controls the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, pledged on Saturday to block NATO shipments until the US ends drone attacks targeting Islamic militants in northwest Pakistan. Protesters stopped trucks and roughed up drivers on Sunday on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, before the police stepped in. Covert CIA drone strikes in Pakistan have long been a sensitive subject, with Pakistan officials regularly criticising them in public as a violation of the country's sovereignty. The issue is more complicated, however, since the government is known to have supported at least some of the attacks in the past. The federal government has also criticised drone strikes but has indicated it has no interest in blocking the NATO supply route, which could spark a crisis with the US and other NATO countries. The land routes through Pakistan have been key to getting supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan. The routes have been closed in the past. The Pakistani government blocked the routes for seven months following US airstrikes that accidentally killed two dozen soldiers on the Afghan border in November 2011. Pakistan finally reopened the routes after the US apologised. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...