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Title: Nato contractors 'attacking own vehicles' in Pakistan
Source:
BBC
URL Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11489955
Published: Oct 6, 2010
Author: Riaz Sohail, BBC News
Post Date: 2010-10-08 13:26:17 by Red Jones
Keywords: None
Views: 91
Comments: 4
6 October 2010 Last updated at 18:45 ET Nato contractors 'attacking own vehicles' in Pakistan By Riaz Sohail BBC News, Karachi Tankers on fire near Quetta, Pakistan (6 Oct 2010) Nato supply convoys travelling through Pakistan to Afghanistan have regularly come under attack in the past, but following Pakistan's decision to block their route through the Khyber Pass, they now face an even bigger security threat. Hundreds of tankers and trucks have been left stranded on highways and depots across Pakistan, with little or no security. Taliban militants have regularly been targeting the convoys, even when they are heavily protected. But many believe it is not just the militants who pose a security threat to the convoys. The owners of oil tankers being used to supply fuel to Nato in Afghanistan say some of the attacks on their convoys are suspicious. They say there is evidence to suggest that bombs have been planted in many of vehicles by the "Nato contractors" - individuals or companies who have been contracted by Nato to supply fuel and goods to forces in Afghanistan. The contractors subsequently hire the transporters who then carry the goods. Selling fuel Dost Mohammad, an oil tanker owner from Nowshera district, said a Nato contractor had recently been caught trying to plant a bomb in an oil tanker. Nato supply trucks parked by a road in Torkhum, Pakistan (2 Oct 2010) Contractors say there is little of no security for the supply convoys "This happened in the area of Paiyee, when he was putting the bomb under the vehicle." "At that time, a few men also opened fire on the tankers. The deputy later told the police that he had been told to plant the bomb by the contractor." Dost Mohammad said the contractor had apparently sold off the fuel first. "Only 2,000 litres from the original 50,000 litres had been left in the tanker to cover up the crime," he said. Dost Mohammad said it is a win-win situation for the contractors. "If an old vehicle is burnt, Nato gives them money for a new vehicle. In addition, they receive compensation for all the fuel lost as well." Continue reading the main story “Start Quote We are very scared at the moment - we are an open target for the militants” End Quote Israrullah Shinwari All Pakistan Oil Tankers Association But the Deputy Minister for Interior, Tasneem Ahmed, dismissed the transporters' claims. "We have no such information that the Nato contractors are themselves setting the tankers on fire," he told the BBC. "No such complaints have been lodged, to my knowledge." The BBC also spoke to a Nato contractor, who was similarly dismissive of the allegations. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said Nato insured all the goods being transported and the vehicles carrying them. "Nato pays the premium and bears the relevant charges with the local companies who provide the schemes. The transporters are then reimbursed on the basis of their actual losses," he said. But he said the policies were only valid within Pakistan. Driver arrests But Nowshera's police chief, Nisar Tanoli, had a different account of events. Continue reading the main story Khyber Pass • Up to 80% of Nato supplies for Afghanistan pass through Pakistan • Majority are driven 1,200 miles (1,931km) from port of Karachi to Kabul via Khyber Pass • 1,000 container lorries and tankers travel daily through the pass to Kabul • Khyber Pass is 53km long (33 miles) and up to a height of 1,070m (3,444ft) • About 150 lorries go via the southern supply route through Chaman to Kandahar. Talking to the BBC, he confirmed that at least two attempts to blow up oil tankers had taken place in the district. "One took place in Paiyee, and the other in the area of Watak near Akora Khattak," he said. "In both incidents the tankers were parked in the area for a couple of days. During this time, bombs were made in nearby houses and then used on the tankers." He said the contractors were "in a hurry" to get a copy of the initial police reports into the incident and were "not interest in prolonging the investigations". "The insurance agents also showed up a few days later," he said. Mr Tanoli says the police carried on their investigations and the facts eventually came to light. "We have now arrested some drivers and their helpers," he said. "The people behind them are not residents in the district, but we have issued warrants for their arrest." He added that there have been incidents in which fuel for aircraft has been sold off. "The contractors later said it had leaked, or the tanker caught fire." 'Open target' All, then, is not as straight forward as it seems, as far as the threat to the Nato supply route is concerned. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote Pakistan's intelligence and security apparatus may be encouraging the attacks by looking the other way” End Quote Security analyst But despite these additional concerns, the main danger continues to come from the Taliban. "We are very scared at the moment - we are an open target for the militants," said Israrullah Shinwari, a spokesman for the All Pakistan Oil Tankers Association. "Since the blockade was enforced, we have 3,000 tankers stranded across Pakistan." "The blockade itself has cost us tens of millions of rupees in losses. This does not include the damages suffered in the attacks. "The Taliban have openly declared they will target the tankers, but we have been provided with no security." Since 2007, the militants have destroyed or captured dozens of Nato transport vehicles, especially in the Khyber tribal region. But a security analyst said the latest move was "tantamount to encouraging the militants to have a real go at the convoys". "The fact that government ministers are calling the attack an expression of public anger shows that some may just be payback," he said. "Pakistan's intelligence and security apparatus may be encouraging the attacks by looking the other way. In fact, there are suggestions that agencies may themselves be behind some themselves." Additional reporting by Riffatullah Orakzai, BBC News, Peshawar
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Between the time our troops invaded Afghanistan in fall of 2001 and the end of that year the US had already secured victory in this war and there were 8 Americans killed in this process. The previous government fled and we established a new one with Karzai as the leader very easily. Karzai of course was previously employed as a lobbyist for Carlyle Group where he unsuccessfully tried to convince the Afghan government to contract with Carlyle Group to build the big gas pipeline across Afghanistan. As President of Afghanistan he was finally successful and did convince the government of Afghanistan to contract with Carlyle on that job. But before President Karzai could be successful at that task the Afghan Minister oveseeing those contracts, a man that Karzai himself hired, had to be killed. He died in a helicopter accident along with people from the Chinese contractor who were trying to steal the job. But since 2001 every single year our death toll has gone up. its not easy to create a war out of thin air where none existed before. The US should be congratulated on its effectiveness. Do you recall that about 1.5 million Iraqis died due to many causes, but attributed to being a side-effect of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003? Iraq had never seen a suicide bombing prior to that invasion. And only months after the invasion they experienced suicide bombings and other bombings of their civilians on a daily basis. This is the main means by which they lost 1.5 million people. We were told that after the US invasion of Iraq the Iraqis just started killing each other because thats how they always did things and Saddam had kept the warring sides separate somehow. We operated the Abu Ghraib prison exactly like Saddam did, with rape rooms, with torture and beatings and killings. But somehow we didn't have what it took to stop the violence and Saddam did (we were told). Do you recall the UK newspaper that had a story about how 2 UK soldiers were caught by Iraqi police with bomb equipment, much weaponry, arab dress, fake beards and makeup on their face to make them look arabic? The Iraqi police, not understanding at first that these were UK soldiers, almost killed these soldiers who surrendered under fire and put them in jail as being terrorists. The UK military showed up at that jail in force and killed a bunch of people, knocked a whole in the prison's walls and thus released about 100 prisoners including the 2 UK soldiers who were said to be terrorists. Do you recall that soon afterwards an arabic newspaper had a similar story about 2 American soldiers allegedly caught under very similar circumstances, in arab dress, with bomb-making equipment and much weaponry. There was another news story in the arabic press where an Iraqi individual was featured who had deserted from the US military in disgust and was spilling his guts to the arabic newspaper. The guy had been in the Iraqi military in the early 1990's when the US made a war with Iraq. He was one of the many thousands of Iraqis taken from Iraq and to the US to become a part of the US military. This fellow claimed that the US had him building death squads in Iraq and orchestrating violence among the Iraqis. He said he couldn't take it any more and just fled. The Afghan government has publicly accused US contractors of making IED attacks on both Afghan civilians and the US military. Senator Levin in Washington said the other day that there is evidence that US contractors in Afghanistan have worked against us in the war. It was revealed in congress recently that sometimes Taliban and Iranian spies are hired to work for US contractors. The US spends massively on these contractors. What is produced? It costs $50 million to kill 1 Taliban. That is what it produces. How can you have a war if you don't kill people? War is the agenda.
Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
The New York Post had an article in it saying that 98% of all of the people killed by alqaeda are muslims. In Pakistan where they have terror bombings done by Pakistani groups, it is almost all Pakistanis who are killed. I think once there were a few Americans killed, but normally 100% of the targets are Pakistani. A Pakistani terror group took responsibility for a bombing and issued a statement after the bombing and said they did it to oppose their government cooperating with the US. Repeatedly we see people killing their own because of their opposition to the US. our defense function is so good that we extend it to halfway around the world where we wage war and if necessary we create our own opposition. There were reports in Afghanistan that helicopters were seen taking Taliban into battle against US forces. how does that happen?
Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Thank you for your cogent summary of facts pertinent to an understanding of the criminal enterprise we're engaged in in Southeast Asia. These are the kind of talking points we need to keep in our tick file when speaking with our neighbors. May this quagmire be the death of those that contrived these wars.
I would like to direct this to the distinguished members of the panel: You lousy cork-soakers. You have violated my farging rights. Dis somanumbatching country was founded so that the liberties of common patriotic citizens like me could not be taken away by a bunch of fargin iceholes... like yourselves. Thank you. - Roman Moroni
"create our own opposition" bump. good job reporting, Red. thanks much.
"...as long as there..remain active enemies of the Christian church, we may hope to become Master of the World...the future Jewish King will never reign in the world before Christianity is overthrown - B'nai B'rith speech http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/luther.htm / http://bible.cc/psalms/83-4.htm
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