Pakistan will reopen crucial supply routes to Nato-led forces in Afghanistan after the US apologised for killing 24 of its soldiers in November, Washington and Islamabad have said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military.”
The Pakistani Taliban promptly threatened to attack the convoys.
The routes are increasingly important as Nato prepares to withdraw all combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014.
The row over the supply lines has been hugely damaging to relations between Pakistan and the US.
Transit fees
The dispute began in November last year when two dozen Pakistani soldiers were killed as US air strikes hit two posts on the Afghan border.
Analysis by M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Islamabad
There were several surprises on how Nato supply routes were reopened through Pakistan on Tuesday. The Americans finally said sorry for the 26 November attack, and Pakistan decided to forego the transit fees and other benefits they were demanding.
More surprisingly, the announcement came first from the US. It appears Pakistan needed a face-saver to avoid falling deeper into international isolation. Its powerful military, seen as the prime mover behind the Nato blockade, shared in the decision to open routes with the politicians.
But this seven-month standoff has clearly shown the pitfalls in the US-Pakistan relationship. The Americans will continue to feel the need to keep Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan at a minimum, and will remain wary of Islamabad’s tendency to whip up anti-Americanism at home to achieve regional objectives.
At the time, Afghan officials said that Nato forces had been retaliating for gunfire from the Pakistani side of the volatile border, but Pakistan rejected that claim.
Mrs Clinton made the announcement in Washington after talks by phone with her Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar.
“I offered our sincere condolences to the families of the Pakistani soldiers who lost their lives,” she said in the statement.
“Foreign Minister Khar and I acknowledged the mistakes that resulted in the loss of Pakistani military lives.
“We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military. We are committed to working closely with Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent this from ever happening again.”
Islamabad confirmed it would not raise transit fees when the lines re-open.
US officials say the existing charge of $250 (£160) per truck will not change – Washington had baulked at a Pakistani demand for $5,000 per container to let supplies flow again.
The BBC’s Kim Ghattas says Washington had resisted saying sorry as there is deep anger among Americans about the death of US soldiers in Afghanistan from attacks by militant groups with alleged connections to Pakistan’s ISI intelligence agency.
*Article by BBC*
