Small Bomb Damages NATO Oil Tanker in NW Pakistan

Both American and Pakistani officials have predicted the Torkham border crossing will reopen within a few days.

A Pakistani driver stands beside an oil tanker that was attacked by suspected militants at a...

A Pakistani driver stands beside an oil tanker that was attacked by suspected militants at a terminal in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on Monday, Oct. 4, 2010. Islamist militants attacked and set fire to at least 20 tankers carrying oil for NATO and U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Monday, the third such strike inside Pakistan in as many days, police said. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

(AP)

NATO's Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen tried to reduce the tension between the two sides Monday by apologizing for last week's helicopter attack that killed Pakistani troops, saying the casualties were "unintended" and that a joint investigation was under way.

But even if the border is reopened, underlying tensions will remain in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, especially over Pakistan's unwillingness to go after Afghan Taliban militants on its territory with whom it has strong historical ties.

The U.S. has responded to Pakistan's intransigence by dramatically increasing the number of CIA drone strikes in the country's tribal region. The U.S. carried out 21 such attacks in September — nearly double the previous monthly record.

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The U.S. has also stepped up military operations along the Afghan border, but officials in Washington said the recent NATO helicopter strikes inside Pakistan were not a strong-arm tactic meant to show the country that if it fails to vigorously target militants the U.S. will step in.

The officials said the temporary closure of the Torkham crossing was not opposed by U.S. officials because it allows Pakistan to let off steam and give a public rebuke to Washington that plays well to the domestic Pakistani audience without seriously hampering U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. The officials spoke on condition because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Since Pakistan closed Torkham, traffic has backed up at various points along the route from the southern border of Karachi. But coalition officials say the closing has not resulted in shortages since hundreds of trucks still cross into landlocked Afghanistan each day through Pakistan and via Central Asian states. However, the Central Asian routes are more expensive and less convenient than those through Pakistan.