Peshawar: Supporters of Imran Khan's party on Saturday blocked a key NATO supply route to Afghanistan to protest US drone strikes as the cricketer-turned-politician claimed the attacks had sabotaged the peace process with militants.
The Ring Road, the main supply route for NATO container trucks, and the Torkham crossing on the Afghan border were blocked due to a rally organised by Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf.
Containers were placed on the Ring Road to obstruct trucks as hundreds of Khan's supporters gathered for the rally in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa province that is ruled by the Tehrik-e-Insaf.
Addressing the rally, Khan said the drone strike which killed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Hakimullah Mehsud on November 1 had sabotaged the peace process. "But without drones being stopped, peace cannot be attained," he said.
Khan said the Khyber-Pakthunkhwa government should also block NATO supplies. "We cannot go to the UN Security Council or shoot down missiles. But our provincial government can at least block NATO supplies. We can and we will block NATO supplies," he asserted.
The Tehrik-e-Insaf said in a statement that its workers would stop NATO containers at entry and exit points of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa from Sunday night.
Referring to a decision made at an All-Parties Conference that was organised recently by the federal government, Khan said: "For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a democratic government along with all other parties had agreed that the time for war has ended, and it is time for dialogue."
Khan claimed that the lives of millions were ruined when troops were sent into the tribal areas by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf at the behest of the US.
"I ask (Prime Minister) Nawaz Sharif whether he will continue his dual policies or take a firm stand like a leader. For God stake, don't change your policy for the sake of dollars. The Prime Minister should clearly tell the US that there is a difference between friendship and slavery," he said.
"Our protest will continue until the US ends missile attacks," he said.
Khan's remarks drew strong comments from Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, a senior leader of the PML-N that is in power at the centre. "The problem cannot be solved by waging a war against the US or the Taliban.
Peace dialogue and negotiations are the only solutions," Rashid said. He said Pakistan cannot afford to pick a battle with friendly nations like Turkey by blocking NATO supplies. Khan and his party have an incongruity in their policies and actions over the drone attacks, he added.
Rashid accused Khan's party of accepting aid from the US on one hand, and threatening to block NATO supplies on the other hand. The party should "stop taking dollars from the US" before issuing threats to stop NATO supplies, he said.
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government considers US drone strikes as attacks on Pakistan's sovereignty and wants the federal government to take concrete action on the issue. It urged the federal government to call an All-Parties Conference to forge consensus on stopping the US drone strikes.
The provincial cabinet yesterday strongly condemned a drone strike in Hangu district on Thursday that killed six persons and decided to hold demonstrations and rallies in front of UN offices, the US Consulate in Peshawar and the parliament in Islamabad.
Thursday's drone strike, a rare attack outside Pakistan's tribal areas by CIA-operated spy planes, killed at least three commanders of the dreaded Haqqani terror network.
