Pakistan, US sign troop supply deal

ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan and the U.S. say they have signed an agreement regulating the shipment of American troop supplies to and from Afghanistan.

The deal signed Tuesday codified a largely informal arrangement that has allowed the U.S. to contract trucks to ship goods destined for the Afghan war through Pakistan over the past decade.

Pakistan pushed for a written pact in drawn-out negotiations that led to the supply line's reopening in early July following a seven-month blockade. Islamabad cut the route in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border.

Pakistan state television and the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad confirmed the signing of the agreement.

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