Pakistan Cuts Key NATO Supply Route

(Sept. 30) -- Pakistan halted NATO deliveries along a key supply route into Afghanistan today, in apparent retaliation for a coalition helicopter strike hours earlier that killed three Pakistani soldiers at a border post.

NATO and Pakistani officials gave differing accounts of the missile strike. Unidentified Pakistani security sources told the Los Angeles Times that three NATO choppers crossed into Pakistan's Kurram tribal region before dawn and fired on an outpost belonging to the Frontier Corps, a border security unit. Three soldiers were killed and another three wounded.

But NATO spokesman Lt. Col. John Dorrian told CNN that coalition forces "do not believe the helicopters crossed the border." Instead, he said they observed what they believed was a group of insurgents preparing to fire mortars at a NATO base on the Afghan side, and called in an airstrike to kill them.

"ISAF is working with Pakistan to ascertain if the two events are linked," Dorrian said, using the acronym for the NATO force's formal title, the International Security Assistance Force.

Within hours of the attack, the Pakistani government blocked all trucks and oil tankers ferrying NATO supplies into Afghanistan through the Torkham checkpoint, a key supply route along the Pakistan-Afghan border just north of Peshawar. A Pakistani security official told The New York Times it's unclear when the border crossing will reopen.

Such closures are rare, and mark a downturn in Pakistani trust in NATO's mission. About 250 vehicles cross into Afghanistan at the Torkham checkpoint each day, and at least 100 were already backed up there by mid-morning today.

Going through Pakistan by road is the cheapest and most convenient way for NATO to ferry non-lethal supplies to its troops in Afghanistan. Such transit requires cooperation from Islamabad, and Pakistani troops often provide security for supply convoys.

The dispute over today's helicopter attack and supply route blockage coincides with CIA Director Leon Panetta's visit to Pakistan. He is due to meet the head of Pakistan's military. The CIA is responsible for most of the unmanned drone flights that fire missiles into suspected militant hideouts in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The CIA has stepped up drone attacks inside Pakistan in recent weeks, allegedly in response to a possible terror threat being plotted in Pakistan against European tourist sites. Such attacks often inadvertently kill civilians and anti-American sentiment runs high, especially in Pakistan's tribal areas.

But while officials often publicly express outrage over U.S. missile attacks, Pakistan tacitly condones U.S. efforts to rid its tribal areas of militants, and has pledged to help. Units like those from the Frontier Corps hit today often work in coordination with U.S. and NATO allies.

One of the deadliest cases of mistaken identity was in June 2008, when a U.S. airstrike killed 11 Pakistani troops at their border post, according to The Associated Press. Pakistan said its soldiers died when American aircraft bombed their border post, but U.S. officials said they dropped bombs during a clash with militants. They expressed regret over the deaths but insisted the attack was justified, and the incident frayed U.S.-Pakistani relations for months.

U.S. officials say missiles fired by unmanned drones, operated by the CIA, are one of the most effective ways to target suspected militants along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, without risking American lives. Such strikes are frequent, and are believed to have killed hundreds of insurgents.