Unsecure routes: Man injured in firing on NATO container

Afghan commissioner later apologised for the misbehavior of Afghan personnel; the border was reopened.

JAMRUD:

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a Nato supply container on Saturday, injuring a man.

Aleem Gul, a cleaner from Afghanistan, was shot twice when suspected militants began firing at the container near Ghareza, making this the third attack of its kind on Nato containers. Reports indicate that the militants were riding a motorcycle.

Political administration official Asmatullah Wazir said that two khasadar personnel took Gul to Hayatabad Medical Complex where doctors said he was in stable condition. Wazir said the administration had deployed a large number of khasadar personnel in the area but it was not possible to secure every inch of the route.

A Jamrud political administration senior official said that most of the tehsil was under government control but containers are easily spotted and targeted. “They attacked the containers and escaped while it takes time for the khasadar and security forces to reach the area,” he said. After the attack, militants hide their guns and easily blend in with the local, making it impossible to identify them, he added.

On August 12, another driver was injured when an improvised explosive device exploded near a Nato container in the same area. On July 24, in the first attack since the restoration of the Nato supplies, gunmen attacked a convoy of Nato containers in Jamrud, killing one driver.

In another incident, two Afghan citizens and a local were gunned down in Gaido village by unidentified assailants near the Pak-Afghan border in the Kurram Agency. A political administration official said that a search operation was launched. Several villagers were arrested under the Frontier Crimes Regulation.

Torkham border closed

Pakistani officials closed the border crossing for two hours when the Afghan National Army (ANA) personnel yelled at Dilshad Maseeh, a sweeper, while he was cleaning the road. ANA officials confronted Maseeh saying that dust was blowing towards them.

Pakistani security personnel intervened and protested against the incident. Later, Khyber Rifles Wing Commander Lt. Colonel Mushtaq tried to resolve the matter. Mushtaq said that they would not tolerate any kind of disrespectfulness with any Pakistani on this border.

A Pakistani security official said that Afghan Commissioner Inayatullah Shinwari later visited Col. Mushtaq’s office and apologised for the misbehaviour of Afghan personnel, to convince them to reopen the border.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2012.