Pakistan drops barrier for Nato supply route

Officials from Pakistan said Nato’s supply routes would be reopened after an apology was made by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for the deaths of two dozen Pakistani soldiers caused by American airstrikes in November.

The agreement to reopen supply routes into Afghanistan brought to an end a seven-month long lack of correspondence which threatened counterterrorism cooperation.

It also cost the US more than $1 billion in extra shipping fees and caused complications to the withdrawal procedures of American troops since an alternative route through Central Asia had be used.

Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar and Clinton agreed that mistakes were made by both sides leading to the fatal airstrikes.

Clinton’s apology was made in a statement issued by the State Department in which she also said the US was working closely with Afghanistan and Pakistan to prevent the situation from happening again.

As a result, higher transit fees for each truck carrying NATO’s nonlethal supplies from Pakistan into Afghanistan were dropped by Pakistan as part of the agreement.