Pakistani party postpones NATO supply blockade

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The ruling party in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on Sunday announced postponement of its plan to block supply route for NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf, or PTI, had announced to cut the NATO supply line from Nov. 20 as a protest against the U.S. drone strike which had killed the Pakistani Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan announced the postponement of the protest sit-in against drones and to stop NATO supplies from Nov. 20 to 23, keeping in view the grave security situation in the country,

"This is not a cancellation but a postponement in response to the sensitivities of our people and the acute security situation prevailing in the country," Khan explained in a statement.

The decision was taken after sectarian clashes in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, which claimed nine lives and dozens more were injured.

The incidents caused tensions in some other cities, and law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert in view of possible backlash.

Last week PTI's coalition partner, Jamaat-e-Islam party briefly stopped supplies to NATO forces against the American drone strikes.

Supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami party staged a sit-in on the main NATO supply route in Peshawar for two hours, forcing the authorities to stop NATO containers from entering Afghanistan.

Nearly 70 percent supplies are transported through Pakistan, the shortest and cheapest route, for over one hundred thousands foreign troops.

The U.S. is also using Pakistani route for withdrawal of its heavy machinery from Afghanistan as part of its exit plan.

The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been under tremendous pressure from religious and some political parties to block NATO supply line after the Nov. 1 drone strike, which officials said, sabotaged the government strategy of holding peace talks with the Taliban.