Pakistan refused to reopen Nato supplies despite severe pressure: US

By Ubaid Mughal May 2nd, 2012 ( No Comment )

Washington: The United States has conceded that Pakistan is not ready to reopn Nato supply routes despite severe pressure.

Pentagon on Wednesday said that closure of the Nato supplies would affect troops drawdown in Afghanistan.

It said that thousands of tons of army equipment were stranded in Pakistan.

“Thousands of tons of military equipment intended for the Afghan army and police is stranded in Pakistan, which for months has refused to reopen ground supply routes for Nato convoys despite high-level US pressure” a new Pentagon report said.

Unless Pakistan reopens the routes, Afghan army units will face “increasing shortages of equipment, particularly of vehicles,” according to the report, a regular assessment of the U.S.-led war made public Tuesday.

Lack of access to the routes is “a strategic concern” that “will also significantly” hamper the U.S. military’s ability to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan over the next three years, according to the Pentagon.