Pakistan admits NATO supplies allowed by air
Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar quoted as saying permission given for food items since they were perishable.
ISLAMABAD:
Islamabad publicly admitted Tuesday that it had allowed NATO to use Pakistani airspace to fly supplies into Afghanistan, despite a more than two-month blockade on the border crossings.
"The permission has been given for food items," a defence ministry official quoted Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar as saying at a function in Islamabad.
"Since the food items were perishable, we have allowed them to transport them by air to Afghanistan.
"We have told them to take the supplies out by air and don't bring more for the time being," the official quoted him as saying.
US ambassador to Islamabad, Cameron Munter, last week confirmed that NATO had continued to fly supplies into Afghanistan despite Pakistan's closure of the border to NATO trucks and oil tankers on November 26.
Relations between Pakistan and the United States sunk to an all-time low after air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border in an incident that the United States blamed on mistakes made by both sides.
Islamabad publicly admitted Tuesday that it had allowed NATO to use Pakistani airspace to fly supplies into Afghanistan, despite a more than two-month blockade on the border crossings.
"The permission has been given for food items," a defence ministry official quoted Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar as saying at a function in Islamabad.
"Since the food items were perishable, we have allowed them to transport them by air to Afghanistan.
"We have told them to take the supplies out by air and don't bring more for the time being," the official quoted him as saying.
US ambassador to Islamabad, Cameron Munter, last week confirmed that NATO had continued to fly supplies into Afghanistan despite Pakistan's closure of the border to NATO trucks and oil tankers on November 26.
Relations between Pakistan and the United States sunk to an all-time low after air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers along the Afghan border in an incident that the United States blamed on mistakes made by both sides.