Washington, Sept 16: In a “retaliatory action” after the Sept 3 on-the-ground raid by US forces killing 20 people at a suspected militant target near Angor Adda, Pakistan blocked supplies to US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said an American media report.

Most of the dead in the said strike were women and children.

For almost nine years, the US has been using the 1200-mile route from Karachi to the Khyber Pass to supply its troops in Afghanistan, and in lieu Pakistan is paid one million dollars a day for these supplies, including oil, food, heavy equipment and medicines, the Dawn quoted the report as saying.

Washington’s reluctance to reimburse dues also contributed to Islamabad’s decision and the US paid 365 million dollars before the supplies resumed, added the report.

It claimed that before the US launched the Sept 3 raid, Pakistan’s new government had assured the White House that its “consent would be forthcoming — with a wink and a nod” from the country’s new rulers who had the same powers as former President Pervez Musharraf,.

The report said that the militants also had exploited Washington’s eagerness to kill al-Qaeda leaders to make it target civilian areas that lead to large civilian casualties. “Some US intelligence analysts began to suspect that Taliban deliberately shows US spies-in-the-sky what could be interpreted as a busy guerrilla venue in Fata, and then makes sure there are lots of women and children at the site when the bomb drops,” said the report.

According to the report, Pakistan’s decision to order a ceasefire during Ramazan also contributed to the US decision to launch the Sept 3 raid. (ANI)