Massive attack on NATO Peshawar logistics depot destroys 100 lorries and loads

President Asif Zardari of Pakistan was in New York the weekend of September 26th / 27th September. To pass the longeurs of the weekend he called in on CIA Director Michael Hayden who was passing through New York. Nobody but them knows what they discussed but Lord Patel's Mole in the Mountains, keyhole Kate of the Khyber Pass reliably reports Sirdari and Hayden made secret agreement for coordination of both intelligence and further Predator attacks and a jointly approved list of high-value targets which included the elusive Baitullah Mehsud.

However it appears that his pals and brigands in the Kooki Khel Afridi tribe keep a close eye on NATO supplies moving from the port at Karachi up the Khyber Pass at the rate of 300 - 350 trucks per day carrying 7,000 tons of supplies. Having headed them off at the pass and temporarily closed the pass, the dusky Pathans caused a rapid build up of lorries at the Portward Logistic Terminal in Peshawar (The High Fort in Persian also Pekhawar in Pashto), the nearest city to the Pass.(Sunday Telegraph)

At 2.30 am local time (2130 GMT, Saturday) today that over 200 gunmen (BBC say 300) of the Kooki Khel Afridi clan overpowered and disarmed the security guards - killing one. They then leisurely entered the compound and set ablaze over 100 lorries loaded with Humvees, fuel, food, ammunition and other supplies intended for Western forces in Afghanistan.... having perhaps helped themselves to a few bits and pieces beforehand. (BBC video of the immense damage here)

The high level Khyber Pass is often closed for days at a time. Last month, it was shut for a week when gunmen hijacked a dozen Nato lorries and then made off with four Humvee armoured cars.

The BBC quote a US spokesperson lady , Lt Col Rumi Nielsen-Green, who said the raid at Peshawar was "militarily insignificant". "So far there hasn't been a significant loss or impact to our mission," she said.

AP quote terminal manager Kifayatullah Khan saying 106 vehicles were destroyed, including 62 that were carrying Humvees. See Al Jazeera video and interview with him at top.

The official CIA "Long War Journal" post that a US Predator fired two Hellfire missiles at a Taliban safe house in North Waziristan the first such raid for a week. Reuters reported that the strike took place in a town outside of Mir Ali, killing 4 people with many more wounded . (Post lists every claimed UAV attack , with details, date etc., and kills claimed this year)

Mir Ali is a known stronghold of al Qaeda leader Abu Kasha al Iraq. He has close links to both al Qaeda and the Taliban, a senior US intelligence official told The Long War Journal in January. Kasha was the target of a US strike in Mir Ali on Oct. 31. He survived the attack, according to Taliban fighters in the region, who said he "is healthy and very much in his routine."

Geo News reported. "Taliban militants immediately surrounded the house and did not allow locals to come near the site," witnesses said. No senior Taliban or al Qaeda leaders have been reported killed in the attack at this time.

Those not too familiar with the Long War Journal might like to browse the Foundation for Defense of Democracy who are remarkably coy about explaining the source of their funds but can count on former CIA Director R. James Woolsey as a member of their Leadership Council of Distinguished Advisors