FOR quite some time it was being given out by Western and Afghan circles that the militants the US and NATO forces were fighting in Afghanistan were getting some of their military supplies from Pakistan. However, The New York Times has revealed that the arms and ammunition seized from the militants had been supplied by the Afghan army. Of 30 rifle magazines that were recovered from Taliban's corpses, 17 contained cartridges that were similar to the ones manufactured in the US and provided to Afghan security forces. The US has held certain elements in the Afghan Army responsible for supplying the insurgents with the weapons. The US ought to take a serious note of the situation and rein in the elements in Afghan Army sympathetic to Taliban rather than put the blame on Pakistan; otherwise it is not only the US Army in Afghanistan but also the entire region would continue to face the trouble. It should also ring alarm bells in Pakistan. The dead bodies from whom ammunition was recovered were found close to the Durand line. It would be legitimate to suspect that militants inside Pakistan were also getting their supplies from them. Some of the militant outfits in Pakistan have been found using state-of-the-art military equipment smuggled from Afghanistan. For instance, militants in Malakand and FATA carrying out an insurgency against Pakistan also have such weapons. Obviously, this cannot happen without the necessary wherewithal and supply of arms. There is a strong suspicion, and in some well-informed circles strong conviction, both India and Afghanistan have a hand in it. It is a common enemy that the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan are fighting. But if the US weapons continue to fall into the hands of militants who are also aided by New Delhi and Kabul, the hope for victory virtually recedes into oblivion.