Thousands of tons of military equipment intended for the Afghan army and police is stranded in Pakistan, which for months has refused to reopen ground supply routes for NATO convoys despite high-level US pressure, a new Pentagon report says. Unless Pakistan reopens the routes, Afghan army units will face “increasing shortages of equipment, particularly of vehicles,” according to the report, a regular assessment of the US-led war made public Tuesday. Lack of access to the routes is “a strategic concern” that “will also significantly” hamper the US military’s ability to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan over the next three years, according to the Pentagon.
The report, which Congress requires every six months, gives a largely positive assessment of the war, noting that violence levels from October to March are lower in most parts of the country compared with the same period a year earlier. Afghan army and police units, which are due to take over the main combat role in late 2014 from the US and its allies, are improving, it says. But the campaign still faces “long-term and acute challenges” unless Pakistan moves against Taliban sanctuaries along the border and the Afghan government curtails corruption and takes other steps to improve its popularity with ordinary Afghans. A senior Defense official who briefed reporters on the report on the condition of anonymity, said that “we are making serious important progress” but “challenges remain.”
