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Lack of basic security blamed for Islamic attacks on Pakistani CTs
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16 Dec 2008
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A LACK of basic security and fire fighting capability was blamed successful Islamic terrorist attacks on container facilities in Pakistan that destroyed big NATO supply consignment for the war against Afghan insurgents, according to unnamed sources cited by News International of Karachi.
Military materiel reaches Karachi in containers from where it is transshipped in trailer trucks to Afghanistan via Peshawar and the Khyber Agency, the name of a Pakistani tribal area on the Afghan border.
Fifteen containers and trucks were burnt to cinders in the first attack on December 1 while 170 others were torched on December 7. More than 60 other military trucks were set on fire on December 8, two were damaged on December 11 and scores of other destroyed on December 12.
At least 62 Humvees were set ablaze in the December 7 attack at Pishtakhara. "One Humvee costs around US$100,000 while some are even costlier," a senior security official told The News International.
While coming from Grand Trunk Road up to Pishtakhara via Ring Road, one finds not a single trained security man to guard any of these parking lots. Containers, having expensive goods, can be seen placed on roadside without any boundary wall, said the report.
"Open spaces have been hired to place these containers and park trucks and Humvees. Neither is there any security arrangement nor any building that could ensure some protection to the expensive stuff being transported to forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan," said an unnamed official.
One police official said: "How can we leave other jobs and concentrate only on securing goods of a private company which is supposed to protect it with its own security men."
Another police source said that three groups were involved in attacking container terminals. One had been dismantled while the other two would be destroyed soon. Police have arrested three suspects fleeing towards the Khyber Agency, who are thought the fire bombers of trailers and containers at Port World Logistics terminal.
Despite the supposed police success, many were surprised to learn that they failed to stop 300 attackers who came on a number of occasions, miles away from the Khyber Agency, said the News International report. Some were also surprised when a guard of a terminal at Hazarkhwani said he had not seen a single attacker or rocket hitting containers after more than 60 trailers and trucks had been gutted.
Firefighters reportedly faced innumerable problems in extinguishing fire that engulfed the containers having variety of chemicals. "Firefighters, according to some sources, were always found reaching late to the scene and having no latest technology and machinery," said the News International report.
The unnamed source said the contractor of parking bays, which handles the transshippment of NATO logistics to Afghanistan, had been attacked five times in 11 days, yet had not bolstered security arrangements to the usual container terminal level.
"This was the reason that goods worth billions of rupees were gutted in four parking lots in less than two weeks," said a source wishing anonymity. The contractor of majority of the parking lots located on both sides of the Ring Road," he added, "is based in Karachi and had won the contract when Pervez Musharraf was ruling the country."
Four container terminals on Ring Road, Port World Logistics, Al-Faisal Container Terminal in Pishtakhara and Bilal Terminal and Farhad Terminals in Hazarkhwani, have been attacked with rockets, petrol bombs, hand grenades and other sophisticated weapons since December 1, leaving two drivers and one watchman dead and gutting goods worth billions of rupees
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