Islamabad, August 30: Fuel and other supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan were stopped as traffic on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghan border remained suspended yesterday because of a row over search of goods trucks coming from Afghanistan. Hundreds of trailers carrying fuel and other supplies, including food, military equipment and vehicles, were stuck up in Pakistan’s southwestern border town of Chaman, the second major supply route for NATO after the northwestern Khyber tribal region.
About 300 vehicles were still stuck in the Pakistani border area while a large number of vehicles loaded with fruits and other goods were also stuck on the Afghan side of the border. The row broke out on Friday after Pakistani border officials asked Afghan drivers of trucks carrying grapes and other fruit to unload their goods for search. The drivers refused to do so, saying the unloading would spoil the fruit. The officials said they would not allow entry of trucks without checking. ”We cannot change our method of checking,” Dawn newspaper quoted a senior Border Security official as saying The Afghan drivers alleged that the Border officials demanded money for clearing the trucks.
Pakistani officials denied the allegations. Meanwhile, Afghan traders stopped entry of trucks and other vehicles carrying NATO(The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) supplies into Afghanistan in protest against the Pakistan governments decision. The Chaman Chamber of Commerce of Industry expressed concern over the issue and said traders would suffer huge losses if the dispute remained unresolved.
—Agencies