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Pakistan authorities will scan all containers passing through the country's borders to supply NATO troops in Afghanistan to ensure they do not contain ammunition and weapons, according to a report. Islamabad recently decided to reopen the supply routes after closing them in protest at a NATO airstrike, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at Salala check post in November last year. Officials in Karachi said there would be thorough checks to ensure the convoys do not contain lethal supplies. "We scanned the containers randomly in the past, but now every container will be duly scanned," The News quoted Karachi Customs spokesman Qamar Thalho, as saying. "We can seize any item, anything that be, if it is not mentioned in the agreements between Pakistan and Afghanistan and Pakistan and NATO," the official added. Another official said that the move was intended to stymie opposition parties and religious groups in the country, who have criticised the resumption of supplies. "A strict scanning of the cargo is just one important measure not to give enough space to the opposition to exploit public sentiments," the paper quoted the official said, as saying.

Pakistan will scan all NATO containers to avoid transport of lethal supplies