Pakistan Reopens Afghan Border Crossing To NATO

Trucks carrying fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan burn following an attack by militants southeast of Quetta on October 9.

Customs officials say Pakistan today reopened a key border crossing used by NATO to ship supplies into Afghanistan.

They said the first convoy of over a dozen vehicles traveled through the Torkham crossing into Afghanistan just after noon.

Authorities are working to clear hundreds of vehicles to cross into Afghanistan. They have been stranded since Pakistan closed the border to NATO on September 30 in apparent protest at a U.S. helicopter strike that killed two Pakistani soldiers.

The closure left stranded NATO supply trucks vulnerable to militant attacks.

Meanwhile, presumed U.S. pilotless drones today made missile strikes in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least seven suspected militants.

The strikes occurred near Mir Ali in the North Waziristan tribal area, in a district dominated by a militant group led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur that regularly attacks NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Earlier today, the Pakistani Taliban threatened to continue its attacks on NATO's truck supply columns for Afghanistan unless the U.S. halts the drone strikes in border areas of Pakistan.

Some 30 tankers were torched in the southwestern district of Sibi on October 9, bringing to over 100 the number of NATO supply vehicles lost in the past week.

compiled from agency reports