Pakistan allowing insurgents to transport explosives on NATO supply trucks

Military.com:

While coalition forces in Afghanistan wage a battle against improvised explosive devices, a Military.com investigation has revealed Pakistani officials are turning a blind eye toward smugglers who deal in the main ingredient used to make the deadly weapons.

More disturbing is that along with Taliban smugglers using secret routes much of the supply has been carried across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in trucks contracted by NATO, which allows them to cross between the two countries unhindered.

Improvised explosive devices have accounted for 66 percent of the overall casualties in Afghanistan since the war started in 2001. The makeshift bombs have claimed 368 troops in 2010; this year the tally has already reached 143.

The main chemical insurgents use to make their deadly bombs is ammonium nitrate, which is being funneled into the country from Karachi, Pakistan’s main financial hub.

...
There is much more.

This is just more evidence of the corruption that is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Changing that culture is beyond the scope of the war effort, but we need to do a better job of ferreting out these crooks and dealing with them.

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