Top US commander in the Middle East Gen James Mattis has said he would travel to Pakistan in about 10 days to talk with leaders about reopening ground supply routes that have been closed since late November. Mattis, commander of US Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the US needed the supply routes to facilitate the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Islamabad blocked the supply routes in reaction to NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in an exchange of fire near the Afghan border on November 26.
