KARACHI: Activists from the Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) continued a two-day sit-in outside the city’s Arabian Sea port, urging the government to end its cooperation with Washington’s “war on terror”.
Karachi is Pakistan’s economic hub, home to its stock exchange and a lifeline for a depressed economy wilting under inflation and stagnating foreign investment.
The city, the country’s largest, is important to logistical support for NATO forces fighting against Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
“There was not a single Taliban militant in Pakistan before 9/11 but since we joined this war, we are facing acts of terrorism, bombing and drone strikes,” Khan said.
The demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans and carried banners and placards reading “Death for America” and “Stop drone strikes in Pakistan”.
Khan said the US drone strikes were creating “suicide bombing factories”and urged the government to stop taking foreign aid.
“These attacks are against Pakistan’s interests. I ask the government to stop Nato supplies via Pakistan, but I am sure they can’t, because these shame-proof rulers are getting dollars,” he said.
Nato supply trucks, oil tankers and equipment required by coalition troops in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistan, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through central Asia.
