Nato chief urges Pakistan to re-open supply route

BRUSSELS: Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Pakistan on Monday to reopen a key Afghanistan supply route “as soon as possible” and expressed regret for the deaths of Pakistani troops in a Nato strike.

Pakistan has blocked a land route for Nato convoys carrying supplies to neighbouring Afghanistan since Thursday after officials blamed a cross-border Nato helicopter attack for the deaths of three Pakistani soldiers.

Rasmussen said he had a “good and open discussion” with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at Nato headquarters.

“I expressed my regrets for the incident last week in which Pakistani soldiers lost their lives,” Rasmussen told reporters after the meeting.

“I expressed condolences to the families. Obviously this incident was unintended,” he added.

Rasmussen said Nato and Pakistan needed to “improve” and “step up” cooperation on the Afghan-Pakistani border region to prevent Taliban insurgents

from crossing the frontier to attack foreign troops fighting in Afghanistan.

“I expressed hope the border will be open for supplies as soon as possible,” he said. “The foreign minister committed himself to work on this.”

The Pakistani foreign minister did not hold a press conference after the meeting.

Nato has said its aircraft had entered Pakistani airspace Thursday in self-defence and killed “several armed individuals” after the air crews believed they had been fired upon from Pakistani territory.

Rasmussen noted that a joint investigation has been launched.

“We will discuss what happened and draw the right lessons,” the Nato chief said.

While the key supply route remains closed, Nato supply convoys have come under attacks in Pakistan in the past three days. Pakistani Taliban militants claimed on Monday two fiery raids in which nearly 60 trucks have been torched. – AFP