Pakistan Closes Key U.S. Supply Line

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 30, 2008 — -- People living in Peshawar, the largest city in Pakistan's northwest, have taken to saying that they are surrounded on three sides.

The Pakistani military launched an operation today to try and clear one of those sides, and in so doing suspend the supply line that delivers three-quarters of the NATO and American material for the war in Afghanistan.

Using tanks, artillery and helicopters, Pakistani army soldiers and frontier corpsmen attacked villages known as strongholds for the Taliban and criminal gangs, local intelligence and political officers told ABC News.

Armored Personnel Carriers are being sent into the villages, which are located west of Peshawar in Jamrud, across the border in the Khyber Agency. Shops and businesses have been asked to shut down.

But the local administration announced that the operation would be taking place beforehand, so it's not clear how effective it will be at eliminating the militants who have put Peshawar under siege.

Kidnappings for ransom increased in Peshawar almost threefold during 2008, according to police statistics released today -- despite numerous kidnappings that went unreported.

As many as 116 people were kidnapped for ransom in Peshawar in 2008. That number was 34 in 2007, according to official statistics.

It's also not clear for how long the supply line will be disrupted. The operation is taking place near the road where trucks travel from Peshawar toward the Afghanistan border.

On that road in recent months militants have launched their most successful attacks on the supply line since the beginning of the war. For three straight days in early December, more than 300 trucks full of NATO and American supplies destined for Afghanistan were burned inside Peshawar's city limits.

A group led by the cousin of the Taliban in Pakistan's leader, as well as one named the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, have been responsible for the supply line attacks. The groups have been invited to the area by criminal gangs wishing to reinforce their own positions, a local intelligence agent told ABC News. The groups in return get easy access to the supply lines.