LAHORE: In an effort to convince Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan to end blockade of NATO supplies going through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to Afghanistan, the ambassadors of 22 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries contacted Imran Khan, media reported on Monday.
The ambassadors told Imran Khan that the blockade was causing inconvenience to the NATO forces in Afghanistan. They were of the view that NATO countries had nothing to do with drone strikes as drone attacks on Pakistan’s territory are being carried out by the US, not NATO countries.
However, Imran Khan reportedly turned down the request and said that the blockade would continue till a complete halt to the US drone attacks on Pakistan’s territory.
Meanwhile, the PTI and its allied parties’ sit-in for blocking of NATO supply entered into third consecutive week today.
The workers of PTI‚ Jamaat-e-Islami and Awami Jamhoori Ittehad have set-up protest camp at Ring Road near Hayatabad Toll Plaza in Peshawar. They are checking the documents of the containers and block transportation of any container if it is found carrying NATO supply.
The protest by the PTI and its allied parties in the provincial government started after a US drone had carried out a strike in the Tal area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district, causing several causalities on November 21.
Later on December 4, the US military suspended shipments of equipment out of Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying the initiative was taken to ensure the safety of drivers of the containers following protests in Pakistan over US drone strikes.
