NATO supply routes closure causing massive equipment backlog: US DoD

US Department of Defense says closure of Nato supply routes backlogging thousands of tons of equipment. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE

WASHINGTON: The US Department of Defense’s (DoD) semi-annual Afghanistan report says the closure of the Nato supply routes in Pakistan has led to the backlogging of thousands of tons of equipment.

In the report on progress towards Afghanistan’s stability and security that is based on events from October 2011 to March 2012 and has been submitted to Congress, the Department of Defense says that the closure of the Pakistan Ground Lines of Communication (GLOCs) remains a strategic concern. “Failure to settle the GLOC issue will also significantly degrade redeployment and retrograde operations in support of the drawdown of coalition forces.”

The report cites the impact the closure of the Nato supply routes has had on equipment needs for Afghan forces. The Nato supply routes were closed in October 2011, after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a Nato strike on the Pak-Afghan border.

The Afghan National Police remains under-equipped, says the report, and there will be shortages of equipment especially vehicles for Afghan National Army (ANA) units due to the closure of the GLOCs. Over 4000 vehicles meant to be used for the ANA, said the DoD report, remain stranded in Pakistan. “Reopening the GLOCs would improve the US and coalition forces’ mission flexibility and build capacity.”

US forces in Afghanistan have been relying primarily on the Northern Distribution Network (NDN) through Central Asian nations for sending supplies to forces. The report says that it has “ensured the sustainment needs of coalition forces and allowed initial proof of principle shipments for retrograding material from Afghanistan to the United States” through the NDN.

However, “the closure of the GLOCs has had a more limited effect on communications equipment and weapons, the delivery of which continues via air lines of communication (ALOCs). Fielding priorities for the next 180 days are expected to be met if Pakistani GLOCs are restored.”

The closure of the GLOCs has also had an impact on the completion of the Kandahar-Helmand Power Plant program, and has created a backlog of electrical materials required for the project, says the report. DoD says that unless the border reopens or alternate routes are used, which will increase the cost of the project, the US could see a “potentially one-year delay in getting Kandahar distribution upgrade materials in the country.”

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Stolen NATO Army Kits on Sale in Pakistan!

London, March 18 (IANS) Stockpiles of NATO military equipment meant for use against the Taliban are being sold in Pakistan's black market, a British media report said.

Stolen military-issue knives, Kevlar bulletproof vests, tool kits, flares, first aid sets and even official stationery are on sale in Pakistan, the Daily Express reported.

According to the report, in Pakistan's Karkhano market in Peshawar city, near Afghan border, merchants display masses of camouflage clothing and military-grade insect repellent at very low prices.

A vendor confirmed, the kit came from NATO lorries plundered on the border and the US-run Baghram air base, where entire containers are illegally bought and auctioned off, One vendor confirmed .

Buyers "come from all over Pakistan, even foreigners, and are attracted because it is of good quality and is being sold very cheaply", he said.

"Much of this kit may have been stolen during hijacking of the convoys, but some is certainly being sold by Afghan National Army forces," said Patrick Mercer, a British MP.

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Pakistan Army VS World Enemies

It looked impressive when the French army chief Gen Bertrand Ract-Madoux laid a floral wreath at the Yadgar-e-Shuhada outside the GHQ on March 13, a gesture of recognition of the matchless contribution of Pakistan armed forces' personnel and officers, by a coalition partner, which the Americans and other NATO member countries should also follow suit. Gen Kayani speaking on the occasion rightly said that the sacrifices made by the Pakistan army were more than that of the NATO forces in Afghanistan..."Therefore it required appreciation and not baseless accusations." This leads us to draw a little comparison between the Pakistan armed forces and the contemporary armies of the world. The most unforgettable and, according to Karzai, "unforgivable" act of brutality in Kandahar by the American troops was killing a numberof unarmed Afghan civilians. A number of similar incidents by the Americans remind us of the pressure and frustration they suffer internally as they do not willingly accept their postings into the war zones of Afghanistan or elsewhere in the combat areas. Recently, a Major
of the US Army, in his headquarters in USA, opened fire on his colleagues and killed four of them, just because he was opposed to his posting in Afghanistan. One wonders whether the Pakistan Army troops face a similar kind of pressure or frustration while going into war. Why
even a single incident of such kind has never occurred in the entire history of the Pakistan military? There might have been at the beginninga difference in opinion on whether or not the war on terror was the war of Pakistan, but later when it started engulfing Pakistan and hitting
its security forces, the consensus and focus led to not only motivation but sweeping actions by the forces in which our troops' individual resolve for valour and sacrifice was seen at its peak. Not to mention that there have been over 3,700 martyrdoms in this ongoing war. But the
great aspect, which is not highlighted, is the height of patience, resoluteness and resilience demonstrated by our men and officers during the course of this asymmetrical warfare. The inhuman attitude of US-NATO troops, like pissing on dead bodies and burning of the copies of Quran in Afghanistan shows the level of ethics and morality the troops of the most civilized nation adhere to.

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