Pakistan restores NATO supply link after bridge attack

Feb 3, 2009, 11:08 GMT

   Islamabad - Pakistani authorities swiftly re-opened a key supply route serving NATO forces in Afghanistan Tuesday, following a rebel attack on a bridge in the north-western tribal region, an official said.

   Traffic through the Khyber Pass was suspended when the 30-metre iron bridge was blown up early in the morning.

   'The road has been reopened after makeshift arrangements at the blast site,' a government official in the Khyber district said.

   He said a team of engineers was in the area to assess the damage to the bridge, adding that it was not clear how long it would take to repair the original structure.

   Insurgents have launched numerous attacks on trucks carrying food and military hardware for US and NATO troops in Afghanistan in recent months.

   Hundreds of vehicles, including armoured Humvees for US forces, were destroyed on the outskirts of Peshawar city in December alone.

   Almost two-thirds of US and NATO supplies bound for Afghanistan are hauled through the Khyber Pass, which had been briefly closed several times as security has deteriorated.

   The US is considering securing new overland routes through central Asia to maintain a steady flow of supplies into Afghanistan, where Western forces are fighting Taliban militants since 2001.