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'Pakistan re-opens NATO route for Afghanistan'

Pakistani engineers on Wednesday opened an alternative supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan after militants blew up a key bridge, a government official said.

Updated on: Feb 04, 2009 05:00 PM IST
AFP | By , Peshawar
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Pakistani engineers on Wednesday opened an alternative supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan after militants blew up a key bridge, a government official said.

HT Image
HT Image

"The road has been opened for all types of traffic, light and heavy, including NATO vehicles," Tariq Hayat, the head of administration in the Khyber tribal region, told reporters in the border town of Jamrud.

Pakistan army engineers built an alternative route, diverting traffic around the blast damage by bridging a seasonal drain in the area, he said.

Traffic between Peshawar and the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan, across the famed Khyber Pass, was suspended on Tuesday when Taliban militants blew up a British-built bridge.

Hundreds of vehicles which had been stranded on the road were seen on the move after the reopening of the route, a witness said.

"I saw around 200 trucks and other vehicles crossing the road via the alternative road near the damaged bridge," local resident Ejaz Shinwari told AFP.

 
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Get the latest headlines from US news and global updates from Pakistan, Nepal, UK, Bangladesh, Russia and US Iran war Live, get all the latest headlines in one place on Hindustan Times.
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