Taliban glad to see trucks rolling from Pakistan again

The Stars & Stripes reports that joyous Taliban soldiers are positively giddy that Pakistan has opened their borders to US supply trucks rolling to the troops again. It seems that both sides in the conflict defend on the truck route to continue their operations against each other;

The insurgents have earned millions of dollars from Afghan security firms that illegally paid them not to attack trucks making the perilous journey from Pakistan to coalition bases throughout Afghanistan – a practice the U.S. has tried to crack down on but admits likely still occurs.

Militants often target the convoys in Pakistan as well, but there have been far fewer reports of trucking companies paying off the insurgents, possibly because the route there is less vulnerable to attack.

“Stopping these supplies caused us real trouble,” a Taliban commander who leads about 60 insurgents in eastern Ghazni province told The Associated Press in an interview. “Earnings dropped down pretty badly. Therefore the rebellion was not as strong as we had planned.”

[…]

“We are able to make money in bundles,” [another] commander told the AP by telephone. “Therefore, the NATO supply is very important for us.”

Sounds like those quotes came out of the Duffel Blog doesn’t it? If the convoys are so lucrative for the Taliban, I’d be flying drone missions over the routes as escorts and end the attacks. But that’s just me.

Category: Terror War