|
|
|
Rail lines through Central Asia. Map from The Schiller Institute. |
The Taliban hit NATO supply trucks parked at a terminal in Peshawar for the third time in 24 hours. More than 230 NATO vehicles and trucks transporting supplies have been destroyed in six attacks over the past six days.
A Taliban force struck the Bilal terminal on Peshawar’s Ring Road early this morning Pakistan time and torched vehicles parked in the lot. Eleven NATO trucks and 13 containers carrying supplies were destroyed in what Geo News described as the latest attack in “a series of increasingly sophisticated raids.”
The attack is the sixth such incident in Peshawar in six days. Fourteen NATO trucks and several containers were destroyed in yesterday’s attacks on the Bilal and World Logistic terminals. More than 200 NATO military vehicles and supply trucks were destroyed during three attacks outside of Peshawar on Dec. 7 and 8. More than 230 trucks have been destroyed in the past six days.
The Pakistani government has failed to provide security at the terminals despite three attacks earlier in the week. The government said it would provide troops to guard the NATO convoys in Peshawar, but the Peshawar police and the Frontier Constabulary, a regional police force, both said they lacked the resources to provide security at the 13 truck terminals on the Ring Road.
Daily Times reported the deputy commander of the Frontier Constabulary said “the force did not have additional personnel that could be deployed at NATO terminals” and the force “was mainly entrusted with maintaining law and order, adding current resources did not allow FC deployment for protecting the terminals.”
Yesterday, the senior superintendent of Peshawar police said his men are unable to provide security at the terminals because the police are too busy attempting to secure the city from Taliban attacks. The Taliban have stepped up attacks inside the city even though the military launched two offensives to clear the region of the Taliban since last summer.
NATO and US spokesmen downplayed the attacks earlier this week, with one describing the Taliban’s efforts to choke the supply lines as “militarily insignificant.”
More than 70 percent of NATO supplies destined for Afghanistan move through Peshawar. NATO is seeking alternative routes for its supplies through the former Soviet republics north of Afghanistan. Routes through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will be ready in eight weeks, NATO sources told Daily Times.
NATO supplies traveling this route will need to pass through Russia, which would place US and NATO forces in Afghanistan at the mercy of the increasingly aggressive Medvedev-Putin regime. Russia invaded the Republic of Georgia last summer, sparking fears of Russian expansionism into the former Soviet republics. The invasion sabotaged Georgia’s bid to join NATO, while European countries put up meager opposition to Russia, fearing energy supplies passing through Russian territory would be cut off.
8 Comments
Taleban tax: allied supply convoys pay their enemies for safe passage
Nothing on the MSR is under friendly control until the jingle truck gets inside the wire at whatever FOB is getting the load.
Our Achilles heel. The P-stani’s are not going to go out of thier way to help. As said above, the FC is worthless, and they are probably in on it. Money talks, and some central asian gov’s may accept the payoff. The Russians have not been friendly lately, and I do not see that changing. We need to cut the P-stani’s out completely. That would make our position alot stronger. The roots of this insurgency are in the tribal areas.
“The Russians have not been friendly lately, and I do not see that changing.”
I do see this changing, significantly. When oil prices where high, Russia could afford to be “unfriendly”. Or more specifically, high oil prices is what financed “unfriendly” posture. With the collapse of oil prices, Russian GDP will drop 10% next year which will make their posture much less…affordable.
Besides, a Islamic funimentalist regime in Afghanistan is as big a threat to Russia as it is to us. Just remind them of the Chechniyan rebellion, the murder of children in Belsen and the Moscow movie theater incident.
Three Armored Divisions and Three Infantry Divisions with air superiority would “pacify” the North-West Pakistan tribal areas once and for all.
Look at what happened in the Philippine Insurrection of 1900 to 1905. Same plan would work in North-West Pakistan. A “Surge.” There is no substitute for victory.
It is somewhat strange that oil has dropped to $46? a barrel recently. Maybe the gulf states recognize that high oil prices fund that psychotic regime in Iran, and also fund Russian armament and belligerence. Perhaps this is an effort to “strangle” Iran into regime change, and make the Russians more co-operative.
“It is somewhat strange that oil has dropped to $46? a barrel recently.”
A bursting speculative bubble and some domand destruction due to a expected global recession can do stuff like that.
A bit off topic but if what I have read about oil pricing structure is right the russians were neither reaping the full benefit of 100$ per barrel, nor they will take the full brunt of the current price crunch, though it will still hurt.
Also in the long run any move away from oil to others sources of energy will be delayed, since any private investor will fear getting his fingers burned by price crunches like these.
I suspect they will be perfectly happy to let the US using their supply lines to hammer islamic fundamentalists, but will want something in exchange and it won’t be dollars.
My 02 cents.
Buff I agree with you – But we’ll need three US Marine divisions, a Royal Marine Commando battalion, and the Indian Naval infantry brigade to take and hold Karachi first. We’ll also need at least three Carrier Battle Groups to shut down the Pakistani Navy (not so difficult) and the Pakistani Air Force (slightly more difficult).
Then the First Team (1st Mech, 1st Arm, 1st Cav) to drive a 50 to 100 mile wide Main Supply Route corridor north to the Afghan border, some 350 miles away.
Then probably another two or three divisions to hold open that MSR corridor.
And the whole time we’ll have to hope the Pakistanis don’t lose the rest of their collective minds and nuke the port, the Carriers, the MSR corridor, or the Indians.
MISSION
CREEP,
R
I think I know what happened to what was the first comment here.
The cat is out of the bag, now.
All roads lead out of Afghanistan