Protesters briefly stop NATO supplies in Pakistan

Hundreds of protesters against the U.S. drone attacks in northwest Pakistan on Friday briefly stopped supplies to NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan. 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. NATO trucks were stopped near the capital Islamabad and were not allowed to enter Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of which Peshawar is the capital. The Jamaat activists were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the United States. They were also chanting slogans against the American drone attacks in the country 's tribal regions. Addressing the participants, the speakers termed drone attacks against country's sovereignty and called upon the federal government to devise a strategy to secure an end to drone attacks. They also demanded the federal government to instruct the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down the U.S. drones when they enter the country's airspace. The Jamaat leaders warned that they would forcibly stop NATO supplies on Nov. 20 if the government did not take action. They accused Washington of sabotaging the dialogue with the Taliban as the drone attack killed Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud on Nov. 1. Supporters of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party, which leads the ruling coalition in the province, also took part in the protest. The party's leader, Imran Khan, has already announced to block the NATO supply line on Nov. 20. The provincial assembly has also adopted a unanimous resolution against the drone strikes and suggested halt to the NATO supplies if the United States continues theses attacks. Religious parties also staged rallies in other major cities and the demonstrators called upon the federal government to suspend NATO supplies as the United States does not respect the country's sovereignty. Chief of Jamaat-ud-Daawa party Hafiz Saeed led a rally in the eastern city of Lahore, and demanded Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to issue orders to the security forces to bring down U.S. drones. Saeed said that the United States has derailed peace process in Pakistan with the recent drone attack in North Waziristan tribal region at a time when the government was in the process to send a delegation to initiate talks with the Taliban.