An American website reported on Sunday that Islamabad’s decision to shut down two key Pakistan border crossings had resulted in the US and NATO using alternate routes to get critical supplies, including fuel and food, to their troops serving on the front lines. The website reported that approximately 85 percent of all fuel and more than 30 percent of all other supplies were being rerouted through a longer and much more costly northern route connecting Baltic and Caspian Sea ports with Afghanistan through Russia, Central Asia and the Caucuses, using a combination of truck, rail and sea assets. It was now costing the US approximately $104 million dollars per month to send supplies through the alternate northern route, said the site. Since Islamabad has given no indication of if or when it may reopen those key crossings, US officials said the increased costs were likely to continue for some time. US–Pakistan tensions remain high and Pakistan has not offered to restore the prior transport arrangement. Officials from the two countries are currently not in any form of negotiations to resolve the issue. Thousands of trucks and other vehicles were stranded on the Pakistan side of the border, unable to move much needed food, clothing, supplies and other goods to the civilian population in Afghanistan, said the site. Afghan authorities had asked Pakistani authorities to allow their supplies through and Pakistan was considering the request, it added. Officials said they were sorting through the thousands of vehicles to determine which ones might be carrying supplies to the Afghanistan people.
