Trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan are parked at Pakistan's Torkham border crossing after Pakistani authorities shut NATO's supply route on November 28, 2011.
The government of Pakistan says it is temporarily allowing NATO to use the country’s airspace to deliver perishable supplies to troops in Afghanistan.
"The permission has been given for food items," a Defense Ministry official quoted Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar as saying on Tuesday.
"We have told them (NATO) to take the supplies out by air and [not] bring more for the time being," the defense minister added, according to the official.
Islamabad’s decision to give NATO access to its airspace comes less than three months after Pakistan suspended access to the military alliance's supply routes to landlocked Afghanistan following NATO airstrikes on two Pakistani military checkpoints in Mohmand Agency on November 26 that killed 24 soldiers.
Last week, the US ambassador to Islamabad, Cameron Munter, confirmed that NATO was using Pakistani airspace to transport supplies into Afghanistan despite Pakistan's decision to deny NATO trucks and oil tankers access to the border.
MN/HGL
