NY Times:
The immense floods that have inundated sections of Pakistan and cut roads and railways have also disrupted the main supply lines for United States and NATO military forces in Afghanistan.
Trucks carrying United States military vehicles under blue tarpaulins were caught in a 30-mile traffic jam on the main highway from the southern port of Karachi to the capital, Islamabad, at the weekend where floodwaters had broken the road and reduced traffic to single file.
Those trucks were far from their usual routes to Afghanistan through western Pakistan, which have been completely cut off because of the floods. Supply trucks are now having to take the much longer route through the center of the country to Islamabad, and then on to Peshawar and the Afghan border. Roads to Peshawar in the northwest have also been cut off.
The bulk of supplies for the United States military, including fuel for its bases across southern Afghanistan, pass through Pakistan from Karachi along two routes to Afghanistan, both of which have been cut off by the floods, Pakistani officials here said.
Capt. Kevin Aandahl, a spokesman for United States Transportation Command, which oversees logistics for the war, said that the flooding had slowed supply lines but had not stopped matériel from getting to American troops in Afghanistan.
“The bottom line is that stuff is moving,” Captain Aandahl said. He said he did not know the extent of the slowdown, but that goods were still crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan via the two main border crossings.
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The rain is probably also effecting enemy movement and may have damaged their sanctuaries. The alternate routes may provide new opportunities for avoiding enemy attacks.
Image by The National Guard via Flickr
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