KARACHI, Aug 31: No security net is in place to protect the 200 to 400 trailers that have been leaving Karachi nearly every day since 2003, carrying supplies for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan.

Developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan, meanwhile, have rendered these supply trucks vulnerable. The recent arson attack on two armoured personnel carriers (APCs) loaded on a trailer at gate number 5 of the Quaid-i-Azam Truck Stand, Hawkesbay Road, highlighted the sensitive nature of the supplies being transported, and the importance of the only supply line available to Isaf.

The stakeholders of the truck stand do not buy the theory that the Taliban were behind the arson attack, however. “They don’t have the sort of presence here that would allow them to launch such a blatant attack,” the owner of a goods carrier told Dawn.

Moreover, they pointed out, the truck stand — which is the country’s largest — is under constant heavy surveillance by personnel from various intelligence agencies, from the Inter-Services Intelligence to the naval intelligence and the special branch of the police.

Around half a dozen local transporters are currently engaged in moving Isaf supplies, and they are registered at the US consulate in Karachi. While there are no extraordinary pre-conditions for doing the work, which has higher rates of remuneration, not everyone can start working for the international forces, said sources at the Hawkesbay truck stand. Local issues and mindsets also play a role, as one transporter told Dawn that he tried to get himself registered once, but decided against it after consulting a cleric who said that this would amount to siding with the international forces.

The transporters working for Isaf own on the average between two and four vehicles and they hire extra vehicles from the market to cope with the cargo load.

Ships carrying Isaf cargo dock at both Port Qasim and Karachi Port. The cargo is generally loaded on to transport vehicles at the docks, after which the trucks hit the road directly. Isaf cargo-laden trucks come very rarely to the Hawkesbay truck stand to take on further goods, which are unloaded at different points along the route to Afghanistan. This allows the transporters to earn a little extra, explained a transporter.

Referring to the August 24 attack on two Isaf APCs, he said that it was very rare for trailers loaded with such vehicles to head towards this truck stand, or for such cargo to be loaded here.

Security concerns in NWFP

The cargo transported through Karachi ranges from pets to dismantled helicopters, arms and ammunition. “The cargo is obviously packed and sealed in such a manner that the contents cannot be ascertained from the outside,” said a source. “And while drivers generally do not risk opening or examining the cargo, there was one occasion when a truck driver explored the goods he was transporting somewhere close to the Torkham border. To his utter surprise, he found a dog.”

Another source divulged that some people in Darra Adam Khel have managed to manufacture seals that can be used to hide evidence of tampering with the cargo. Another person at the truck stand explained that in recent times, drivers have started opening up the cargo, taking out any valuable goods, and then resealing the containers.

Frozen food such as chicken, meat, vegetables and milk is transported in refrigerated containers, while dry foodstuffs such as bread and biscuits are packed into general containers. Vehicles such as jeeps, trucks and APCs are also usually transported in containers, although there have been a few occasions when they are taken across on open trailers.

The sources added that each container is fitted with a tracking device that looks like a steel plate.

The seven-day long journey into Afghanistan is undertaken by two drivers and a cleaner. With the recent upsurge in violence, truckers have started avoiding the NWFP and prefer to travel through the Punjab, said a source.

Upon reaching Peshawar, they usually hire a new trailer to take into Afghanistan, they said, and are hesitant to make the journey direct. The Chaman to Kandahar route is used to reach Bagram Airbase, while the other route goes from Peshawar to Torkham, Jalalabad and then Kabul.

During the return journey, the truckers bring from the Afghanistan bases army vehicles that have been damaged or are in need of repair.

Leaving aside the Isaf supplies, goods for general consumption in Afghanistan are also transported along the same routes. These include items such as second-hand clothing and shoes, medicines, sweets, biscuits, computers and marble, which are taken across by the general transporters.

Isaf is comprised of troops from 26 Nato and 14 non-Nato countries. Following the US invasion of Afghanistan, Nato assumed the strategic command, control and coordination of the international security force in Aug 2003.

Asked whether an alternative route is available for maintaining the Isaf supply lines, truckers said that Gwadar Port could be an option but it would be expensive.

For Isaf’s POL product supplies, however, Karachi could not be bypassed since all of them hit the road from the Keamari terminals via Shireen Jinnah Colony, maintained the truckers.