Pakistan promises to open border "shortly", NATO chief says

Oct 8, 2010, 11:17 GMT

Brussels - Pakistan has promised to reopen its border with Afghanistan 'shortly' so that NATO convoys can bring supplies to troops there, NATO's secretary general said Friday.

A week ago, NATO helicopters killed three Pakistani soldiers in a botched cross-border strike. NATO apologized, but Pakistan closed a main border crossing in protest, leaving NATO convoys stalled and vulnerable to attacks.

'The Pakistani civilian and military authorities have assured us that we could expect the borders to be reopened for our convoys shortly,' Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

Since the border closure, militants have attacked a number of convoys inside Pakistan, torching dozens of vehicles.

'From a security point of view, it is a matter of urgency to reopen the border crossings,' Rasmussen said.

NATO and Pakistan both say that they are allies in the fight against Taliban-linked militants, who use the Afghan-Pakistan border region as a base to launch attacks in both countries.

But a number of NATO incursions across the border into Pakistan last week outraged Islamabad.

The great majority of NATO's supplies are brought into Afghanistan by truck from Pakistan.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said on Wednesday that the border closure would have no immediate impact on troops, since NATO has several supply routes into Afghanistan and has built up considerable reserves of fuel and equipment.

Read more about Afghanistan

Read more about NATO Conflict