Pakistan reopens Afghan bus route

Pakistan has reopened a once-popular bus service to Afghanistan after nearly 30 years.

The route was suspended because of the chaos and instability caused by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

A bus carrying 22 passengers left the Peshawar in Pakistan on a 120km journey to Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.

Pakistan's transport minister in the North West Frontier province said he hoped the bus service will help to improve relations.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have had tense relations since the overthrow of the Taleban by US-led forces in 2001.

Kabul accuses Islamabad of doing little to prevent militants from crossing the border into Afghanistan from Pakistan's frontier tribal region - a charge Pakistan denies.

The bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad was suspended in 1979 after Russian forces invaded Afghanistan.

The two countries agreed to restart the service during a vist by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to Islamabad in March 2005.