Pakistanis call for end to US attacks
Source: Agencies |
April 25, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PAKISTANIS sang, danced and shouted for an end to US missile strikes yesterday, the second day of protests along a major road that has halted supply trucks heading to US and NATO troops fighting across the border in Afghanistan.
The demonstration is set to end today and only around 2,000 people came out. But it has drawn broad attention in this nation at a time of increased tension between Islamabad and Washington, and it has underscored the vulnerability of the Western supply route that runs through it.
As some youth shouted and danced to drum beats, others held banners with slogans such as "Our blood is not for sale" and "Stop drone attacks, stop genocide of innocent Pakistanis." Others sang along with nationalist songs, while many took shelter from the scorching sun inside hastily built tents.
The demonstration was sponsored by the political party of Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan's cricket team. He has called for peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban and opposes the US missile strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal regions.
"America itself is a champion of democracy, so it should listen the voice of people of Pakistan and stop the genocide of the Pashtuns" - the main ethnic group in Pakistan's tribal regions, said Ali Khan, 39, a social worker from Peshawar.
On Saturday, authorities halted the NATO supply shipments as the protest began on the outskirts of Peshawar, around 57 kilometers from the Afghan border. The border crossing at the edge of the Khyber tribal region is normally closed on Sunday.
Much of the non-lethal supplies for foreign troops in landlocked Afghanistan come through Pakistan.
Last September Pakistan closed the border for 20 days to protest a deadly NATO helicopter strike inside its borders.
The demonstration is set to end today and only around 2,000 people came out. But it has drawn broad attention in this nation at a time of increased tension between Islamabad and Washington, and it has underscored the vulnerability of the Western supply route that runs through it.
As some youth shouted and danced to drum beats, others held banners with slogans such as "Our blood is not for sale" and "Stop drone attacks, stop genocide of innocent Pakistanis." Others sang along with nationalist songs, while many took shelter from the scorching sun inside hastily built tents.
The demonstration was sponsored by the political party of Imran Khan, a former captain of Pakistan's cricket team. He has called for peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban and opposes the US missile strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal regions.
"America itself is a champion of democracy, so it should listen the voice of people of Pakistan and stop the genocide of the Pashtuns" - the main ethnic group in Pakistan's tribal regions, said Ali Khan, 39, a social worker from Peshawar.
On Saturday, authorities halted the NATO supply shipments as the protest began on the outskirts of Peshawar, around 57 kilometers from the Afghan border. The border crossing at the edge of the Khyber tribal region is normally closed on Sunday.
Much of the non-lethal supplies for foreign troops in landlocked Afghanistan come through Pakistan.
Last September Pakistan closed the border for 20 days to protest a deadly NATO helicopter strike inside its borders.
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