Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States on Friday continued to downplay the closure of a major supply route at the crossing at Torkham Gate along the border of Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan after U.S. helicopters yesterday unknowingly killed several Pakistani border guards.
The Department of Defense spokesman, Col. Dave Lapan, confirmed on Friday to journalists at the Pentagon, “It is still the case, at last reports, that Torkham Gate remains closed,” adding, “We are still discussing with the Pakistan government that Pakistanis resolve this and get it re-opened, but in the meantime, there is still no immediate impact on our operations in Afghanistan.”
At the State Department briefing, spokesman PJ Crowley told journalists about the closed routes, “They’re important. They’re not the only means by which we resupply our efforts in Afghanistan.”
“We’ve got the northern distribution network that we’ve worked out with Russia and other countries in the region as well, but the land supply routes through Pakistan are vitally important,” Crowley added.
Lapan echoed Pakistani reason of “increased tensions” prompting closure of the gate, saying, “What the Pakistani military described to us was that the closure of the gate was due to their concerns over rising tensions.”
The incident is currently under investigation by ISAF and Pakistan’s government, he added.
“The focus of this assessment is defining those activities that happened in the border region,” he said. “The attack implies that the insurgents continue to use that border area to launch attacks, believing that they have refuge.
“Insurgents are attacking from this border region, and we’re countering,” Lapan added. “The exact circumstances of how this came to be and whether protocols were followed — it’s what we’re looking into.”
On the latest attack on NATO convoy in Pakistan, Crowley noted, “We’re not surprised that insurgents have in the past – and have done so again in the past few hours – attacked those routes, and – but they are important and we will work with Pakistan to make sure that we have the best security possible.”
According to reports, a group of militants attacked a NATO convoy carrying fuel and traveling about 250 miles north of Karachi, torching more than two dozen trucks.
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