Non-Subscriber Extract
Pakistan's critical Khyber Pass reopened
18 November 2008
The Pakistani government re-opened the critical Khyber Pass on 17 November for the first time since militants hijacked and looted 13 trucks containing NATO supplies seven days earlier.
Approximately 100 paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) and Khasadar (tribal police) escorted 52 vehicles in two convoys that carried military equipment, food supplies and oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan, the Daily Times reported. Helicopter gunships also reportedly patrolled above.
The Khyber Pass, located in the Khyber tribal agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), links Pakistan with Afghanistan via the Torkham border. This road is the main supply route for NATO, and as such, recent militant activity in this tribal agency has sharply raised the risk of a disruption of NATO supplies, the majority of which pass through Pakistan.