Imran to block ISAF supplies after Nov. 20

ISLAMABAD (PAN supply lines in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province after assessing the government’s reaction to US drone strikes on November 20.

Speaking in the National Assembly on the aftermath of last week’s strike that killed the Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, Khan said his party government in KP would be left with no option but to hamper NATO supplies after Nov 20 if Islamabad failed to end drone attacks.

Mehsud was killed along with at least four other close aides on Friday evening when a US drone struck his car in the North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghanistan border.

While urging political forces to stand unite on the issue, the former cricketer said the drone attack on the eve of negotiations between the Pakistan government and the Taliban had proven beyond doubt America’s aversion to peace in the country.

Khan explained he had no intention of going to war with the US and could not shoot down drones, but was determined to close the International Security Assistance Force supply line and move the United Nations Security Council.

Also on Monday, the KP Assembly unanimously approved a resolution blocking the NATO supply line through the province. Through a separate resolution, it asked the federal government to take concrete steps to halt drone strikes.

The resolution gave the federal government a 15-day deadline to stop the strikes, after which the provincial administration would unilaterally block ISA supplies through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Participating in the National Assembly debate, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the government’s efforts to hold peace talks with the Taliban had been damaged by the latest air raid that he denounced as a conspiracy to derail process.

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