04 July 2012

News Story: U.S. Apology Leads Pakistan to Reopen Important NATO Supply Route


By JOANNA BIDDLE

WASHINGTON — Pakistan has agreed to reopen its border to NATO supply convoys into Afghanistan after a seven-month blockade, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said July 3, adding Washington was sorry for the loss of life in a botched U.S. air raid last year.

The supply routes have been shut since November, when an American aircraft mistakenly killed 24 Pakistan soldiers, aggravating already difficult relations between Washington and Islamabad.

The announcement, following months of negotiations, will come as a relief to the United States and its NATO allies, who need the routes for a planned withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan through 2014.

Read the full story at DefenseNews