ISLAMABAD, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. military, citing risks to personnel once they're in Pakistan because of drone strike protests, said it stopped cargo shipments from Afghanistan.
Defense Department spokesman Mark Wright said shipments have been halted along the route from the border crossing to Karachi "to ensure the safety of the drivers contracted to move our equipment. We anticipate that we will be able to resume our shipments through this route in the near future," CNN reported Tuesday.
"We are aware protests have affected one of the primary commercial transit routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan," Wright said. "We have voluntarily halted U.S. shipments."
The United States ships an average of 33,000 tons of cargo out of Afghanistan a month, CNN said.
If the crossing doesn't reopen, cargo from Afghanistan could be shipped by air, or via longer land routes to the north, but U.S. officials say either option would be more costly in the long run.
