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Pakistan Temporarily Shuts NATO Supply Route


Pakistani officials have temporarily shut the country's northwestern border into Afghanistan due to security concerns, following a deadly attack on a NATO truck earlier this week.

A local official in the town of Jamrud, Bakhtiar Khan, told VOA Deewa Radio Thursday that the movement of NATO supply vehicles into Afghanistan from the Khyber tribal agency has been suspended "in order to beef up security." He said the crossing would likely reopen in two to three days.

On Tuesday, gunmen in Jamrud opened fire on a convoy carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, killing a driver and wounding at least one other person.

The border crossing is one of two that Pakistan reopened earlier this month following a seven-month shutdown.

Elsewhere in the northwest, a bomb exploded Thursday in a busy market in the Bajaur tribal district, killing at least nine people.

Authorities said two children were among those killed and at least 20 people were wounded in the attack in the Salarzai area. The bomb also destroyed nearby shops and vehicles.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the bombing, but the Pakistani Taliban has a history of attacks in the area.

Pakistan's military has carried out several operations against militants in Bajaur.
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