of troops from Afghanistan "at a much lower cost" according to Clinton. Despite the reopening of critical supply routes from Pakistan, the US military confronts a giant logistical challenge to wind down the war in Afghanistan because it must withdraw till the end of 2014 nearly 90,000 troops and enormous depots of military equipment accumulated over a decade of war which includes 100,000 shipping containers stuffed with materiel and 50,000 wheeled vehicles. The above-mentioned agreement between Pakistan and the United States was never an issue of money alone. "It was a matter of honor for the army," said Laiq ur-Rehman, a Pakistani defence correspondent for ARY News, a cable channel. "The only word they were looking for was 'sorry.' It was a matter of pride, a matter of honor, a matter of ego." "If it had been about the money, it would have been done months ago," said a US senior administration official knowledgeable about the negotiations. "Just like for us, it was not just about the supply routes." According to the BBC the reason for the long US refusal to apologise for the Salala incident was deep anger among Americans about the death of US soldiers in Afghanistan from attacks by militant groups with alleged connections to Pakistan's ISI intelligence agency. Another reason for the United States refusal to apologise was the determination by American military investigators that Pakistan was equally culpable in the Salala incident because Pakistani soldiers, stationed on a ridge overlooking the border, had fired first on US troops on the Afghan side of the border. Pakistan has disputed that conclusion, saying its forces did not fire first. After the first NATO supply trucks crossed the Afghan border on 5 June 2012, Pakistanis questioned the NATO supply line deal. "The US has not apologized formally," said Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the main opposition party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. Imran Khan, another major opposition figure, went further, saying that "the decision isn't only against national interest but can also stir unrest within the ranks of the armed forces." He also criticised the incumbent government as being a pawn of the United States. Political and religious parties in Pakistan undertook "long march" to Islamabad to protest reopening of supply routes to Afghanistan. Pakistan declared it will scan all NATO containers passing through the country to ensure they do not contain weapons and unapproved items will be seized. 560,000