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travel through the Khyber section of the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas. The Khyber area is almost totally controlled by various
factions of the Taliban, and many civilian government officials no
longer dare to travel the road that the trucks use.

The Pakistani government said two weeks ago it had beefed up
protection for the supply trucks along the route.

But the ease with which the militants destroyed the vehicles on Sunday
exposed the susceptibility of stationary equipment to attack, even in
the center of a city that houses the 11th Corps of the Pakistani army.

Earlier this month, militants attacked another parking area in
Peshawar. About 12 trucks with NATO supplies were ruined in that
attack.

Perhaps the most brazen attack came on Nov. 10, when about 60 Taliban
militants hijacked a convoy of trucks as it traveled through the
Khyber road in broad daylight.

To make their point, the militants offloaded a Humvee, called
photographers and then posed in front of the vehicle, rifles in hand
and their banner draped over the hood.

The Pakistani government is eager to hold onto the trucking business
that supplies the war in Afghanistan. The companies that control the
trucks are a powerful constituency in Karachi, the port city, and the
revenue from the supply route is important, particularly in the midst
of a national economic crisis.

But the truck owners complain that the government is impotent in the
face of the Taliban. The hijacking of the truck convoy last month was
carried out by Taliban loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, the head of the
umbrella group called Tehrik-e-Taliban.

After that incident, one trucker said the government had stood by, a
"silent spectator." The Taliban attacked and looted his trucks, and
killed his drivers even as they passed near security check posts, he
said. The Pakistani military had proved unable to stop them, he said.

The three attacks in less than a month makes the need for alternate
routes more urgent, Colonel Julian said.

The American military has said that it is looking to supply the Afghan
war theater through Central Asia, and once negotiations are completed
to move material through the new routes, the dependence on Pakistan
will diminish, American military officials have said.