Nov. 12, 2008
U.S. Supply Convoy Hijacked In Pakistan
Attack On Trucks Carrying Humvees For U.S.-Led Troops Shows Militant Control Of Key Route
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Play CBS Video Video The Road Ahead In Afghanistan President-elect Obama will inherit a war in Afghanistan with an insurgency that's stronger than ever, with attacks and U.S. casualties at its highest since the war began. Lara Logan reports.
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In this Sept. 27, 2007 file photo, U.S. soldiers stand near an armored Humvee in the Tagab district of Kapisa province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
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The assault highlighted the vulnerability of a vital supply route for the 65,000 U.S. and NATO forces battling a resurgent Taliban in landlocked Afghanistan. A significant amount of supplies for the Western forces go through Pakistan.
Attacks on convoys carrying food, fuel and other supplies are common on the road. But Monday's raid was especially large and well-organized. It also could further strain U.S.-Pakistani relations over rooting out Taliban and al Qaeda militants along the border, which remain entrenched despite military offensives and U.S. missile strikes.
Some 60 masked militants blocked the route at several points before overpowering the convoy, said Fazal Mahmood, a government official in Khyber tribal region. He identified the attackers as members of Pakistan's Taliban movement.
Security forces traded fire with the gunmen, but were forced to retreat, he said. The militants took about 13 trucks along with the drivers, who were believed to be Pakistani.
A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan confirmed the thefts late Tuesday.
"There were some U.S. military materials that were taken - Humvees and water tank trailers," said Maj. John Redfield.
CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan reports the war President-elect Barack Obama is inheriting in Afghanistan includes an insurgency that's stronger than ever and willing to turn very young men into suicide bombers, and it's a war that is creeping ever closer to Kabul.
In the most recent violence:
In the past, U.S. and NATO officials have played down their losses from hijackings and attacks along the Khyber Pass.
But earlier this year, NATO said it was trying to reduce its dependence on the route by negotiating with Russia and other nations to let it truck "non-lethal" supplies to Afghanistan through Central Asia.
Pakistani security forces, backed by helicopter gunships, hunted for the missing trucks and drivers. The military said late Tuesday it had recovered some of the stolen materials but would not specify what.
"We are using all resources to trace and recover the hijacked trucks, some of which were carrying vehicles for the allied forces in Afghanistan," Mahmood said.
NATO and U.S. officials have in the past suggested that ordinary criminals - not an orchestrated campaign by militants - are the main problem.
The Khyber Pass, a stretch of about 30 miles, has long been an important trade route and militarily strategic area traversed for centuries by armies, from Moghul warriors to British colonial forces. It abuts Peshawar, Pakistan's main northwestern Pakistan city.
In a bid to eliminate militancy in the border region, the U.S. has stepped up unilateral missile strikes there, a move condemned by Pakistani leaders who say it only deepens anti-American feelings among civilians.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was headed to the United States Tuesday for a U.N. conference on interfaith relations. He was expected to broach the subject of the missile strikes with U.S. officials.
Pakistan's prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, issued a statement after a meeting Tuesday with a U.S. congressional delegation saying there was a "need for restoration of trust between" the two nations and that there must be "complete respect for Pakistan's territorial integrity."
Pakistan has pursued its own military offensives against insurgents, including ones in the Swat Valley and the Bajur tribal region. The U.S. has praised the operations, but the militants have staged a wave of suicide attacks, apparently in retaliation.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 26 Comments[Posted by ThrdArmored at 09:14 PM : Nov 12, 2008]
all the intelligence said the road was safe.
so ... as we all now know ... even though the intelligence failed us ''the last time'' ... we should place complete faith in it this time. then use it later to absolve ourselves of any responsibility when it turns out to be wrong. we wont be wrong for believing it ... even though it was wrong before ... and we should really know better. someone else will take the fall ... and as long as my hands are clean ... everything will be fine.
of course it wasn''t wrong in the first place ... it''s just never absolute with anything ... it all has caveats and qualifiers ... everything is subject to interpretation ... and everything must be weighed relative to the integrity of it''s source.
but i won''t weigh it ... i''ll ignore the caveats ... and lets edit out the qualifiers ... then it will look like it''s a sure thing ... but make sure you still have someone elses name on it ... so when it blows up it does so in their face.
do you understand now?
Posted by obamasNUTZ
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Sorry, but Ahmed the Nutjob announced on televison that they don''t exist in Iran. It''s hard to do anything with X if X doesn''t exist. Guess they have as much trouble finding them in their own neighborhood as we have in finding OBL in his. But one thing I missed was where Ahmed Nutjob made any distinction whatsoever between a liberal one and a conservative one. If they ever find one maybe we''ll get to see the label. I hear they wear those on the outside these days. Liberals on their sleeves; conservatives on RNC provided wardrobes.
The Bu$h legacy - run armies like he ran oil companies - into the ground...
WTH? Are all of our C-17s and C-5A/Bs tied up in Iraq? We can''''t even scrounge up some C-131s?
lolll...gee...I hope nobody with a real Army takes a swat at us.
Posted by ibsteve2u at 01:15 PM : Nov 12, 2008
Where would they land? even a C-130 needs a runway. If they are going to mountainous areas it is too dangerous to maneuver around.
WTH? Are all of our C-17s and C-5A/Bs tied up in Iraq? We can''t even scrounge up some C-131s?
lolll...gee...I hope nobody with a real Army takes a swat at us.
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Posted by tootall1014 at 08:36 AM : Nov 12, 2008
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The US was blaming Pakistan for letting its territory used by Taliban freedom fighters, yet she is using the same territory to transport weapons. US hypocrisy knows no bounds.
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See all 26 Comments