NATO trucks remain stranded in Pakistan
A Pakistani rides his motorcycle past NATO trucks parked at a terminal in the city of Chaman in western Pakistan on December 8, 2011.
Thousands of NATO trucks are crowding the port in Pakistan's southern city of Karachi, two months after Islamabad imposed a blockade on supplies destined for the US-led foreign forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
Many of the drivers, fed up with waiting and running out of money, are starting to desert. Some have already abandoned their trucks and returned to their homes.
"They had no more money in the end so they left one helper with their vehicle for security and care, and went back to their families," Mohammed Saleh Afridi, vice chairman of All Pakistan Oil Tankers Association, said.
He says more than a thousand trucks are stranded in Karachi. There are also about 5,000 containers and military vehicles waiting for Islamabad's permission to cross into Afghanistan.
"Most of the tankers are loaded with fuel, so helpers have to look after them to avoid looting."
Pakistan has vowed to keep its ban on NATO trucks indefinitely in a protest against the US-led NATO attacks that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in the northwest of the country on November 26, 2011.
Prior to the closure, supplies would arrive by sea in Karachi, from where they would travel in long convoys through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwestern Pakistan.
Other routes, largely through Russia and the Central Asian states, have proven to be too costly, both politically and economically.
The United States is paying six times as much to send the supplies through alternate routes.
Pentagon figures, provided to the Associated Press on January 19, showed it was now costing about USD 104 million per month to send the supplies through a longer route. That is USD 87 million more per month than when the cargoes moved through Pakistan.
American officials say the US will have to keep paying the elevated costs for some time amid no sign of improvement in Washington-Islamabad ties.
MP/HN
