Military secrets and other Nato loot on sale at market

AMERICAN military handbooks on tackling roadside bombs and boobytraps in Afghanistan are on sale across the border in Pakistan at a market specialising in Nato equipment looted from supply convoys.

Ration packs, boots and even what appeared to be a helmet for helicopter pilots are all available at Sitara market in the dusty town of Peshawar, which stands at the edge of Pakistan's lawless tribal areas at the entrance to the Khyber Pass and on a crucial supply route for 150,000 international troops battling Taleban insurgents.

Military secrets include a handbook which advises soldiers on how to conduct house and vehicle searches, and pointing out the telltale signs which might indicate a building was boobytrapped. Handprints left on an abandoned home may serve as a warning to local people, for example.

A second manual detailed how electronic "jammers" are used to prevent radio signals from detonating bombs - the sort of information that could help insurgents improve their improvised explosive devices.

Shopkeepers are coy about the origins of such sensitive contraband.

"We get our stuff from Afghanistan," said one shop owner yesterday, his hand resting on the handle of a baseball bat intended for American troops. "It just comes from dealers who deliver all this in bulk. I don't know if it's Nato."

A series of attacks on convoys in the past 10 days has highlighted the vulnerability of Nato's vital supply route through Pakistan.

The entire chain ground to a halt at the end of September when Pakistan shut the Torkham border crossing to Nato vehicles in protest after two US helicopters strayed into Pakistani air space and killed two soldiers they mistook for insurgents.

The border re-opened yesterday following apologies issued by both the US ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. But not before militants staged a series of attacks on trucks and tankers loaded with supplies as their drivers waited at roadside hotels. More than 100 vehicles and tons of equipment were destroyed.

The closure has hit businesses at Sitara market, a network of narrow alleys between shops packed with Asda microwave ovens, cheap Chinese-made electrical goods and dried fruits and nuts - most of it imported illegally from Afghanistan.

The scale of the Nato thefts was recently exposed by Pakistan's Frontier Corps. In a series of raids, they found warehouses filled with tons of helicopter spare parts, equipment for detecting mines, high-powered binoculars and personal letters all meant for serving soldiers.

In one shop, a khaki kitbag held a military helmet fitted with ballistic eye shields and a boom microphone - helicopter pilot's headgear.After offering it for 2000 rupees (16), the vendor changed his mind.

"It's already sold to someone who wants it for their motorbike," he said.

Children sat outside one shop yesterday sifting through piles of freshly minted medals bearing the legend "Afghanistan Campaign". They carefully removed each one from its box before discarding the ribbons, and adding it to a growing mound that they planned to sell for scrap metal.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul said the most sensitive equipment was flown directly into Afghanistan.

"While we take every precaution at securing military property, it's not uncommon for military manuals and equipment to be available on the internet. ISAF has lost less than one per cent of cargo to pilferage, theft or attack," he said.