Asia-Pacific

Pakistan reopens Afghan crossing for NATO uses

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-10-10 18:06

Truck drivers watch as fuel tankers burn after they were set ablaze in Sibi, located in Pakistan's Baluchistan province on October 9, 2010. [Agencies]

PESHAWAR -- Pakistan reopened a key border crossing to NATO supply convoys heading into Afghanistan on Sunday, ending an 11-day blockade imposed after a US helicopter strike killed two Pakistani soldiers.

The closing of the Torkham crossing to NATO vehicles stranded many fuel tankers at parking lots and on highways where they were vulnerable to militant attacks. More than 150 trucks were destroyed and some drivers and police were wounded in the near-daily attacks.

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The reopening of the crossing came four days after the US apologized for the September 30 helicopter attack, saying the pilots mistook the soldiers for insurgents being pursuing across the border from Afghanistan.

"I am very happy that our difficult days have finally ended and we are through now," driver Khan Rehman told The Associated Press minutes before he drove the first truck into Afghanistan just after noon. "I am thankful to the government of Pakistan for ending our hardship."

By early afternoon, around 10 vehicles had crossed into Afghanistan through Torkham and authorities were working to clear hundreds that had been stranded for days, said customs official Ataur Rehman.

"We have cleared a bunch of oil tankers and containers after customs formalities, and the first few vehicles have already crossed the border," said Rehman.