KARKHANO CHECKPOST, July 31, 2008 (AFP) - 'If there is a more dangerous job in Pakistan I'd like to know what it is,' says truck driver Momin Khan Darwish as he displays burns on his body from a Taliban rocket attack.

The 25-year-old was among 100 people who were badly wounded when Islamist militants in Pakistan's rugged Khyber Pass blew up 40 oil tankers destined for NATO and US forces in neighbouring Afghanistan in March.

A recent surge in killings, kidnappings and attacks on the strategic route leading from the northwestern city of Peshawar was a key factor behind a anti-militant offensive launched in the area by the government last month.

Sitting in his garishly-painted 22-wheeler, the words 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Greater) emblazoned atop the windscreen, Khan says however the road remains perilous -- even for those like him who don't supply foreign troops.

'My truck was carrying goods for Afghan customers but it was parked near NATO tankers. There was a huge blast, I was knocked over by a wall of fire and had terrible pain on my back, my hand and my foot,' he told AFP at a dusty truck stop outside Peshawar.

But after nearly four months in hospital being treated for his injuries, he ignored the pleas of his family and returned to work.

'My wife is very afraid but I have a newborn baby and three other children to support. I cannot afford to leave this job,' said Khan, who sports a long black Taliban-style beard which he says helps deflect some militant aggression.

Every day hundreds of drivers such as Khan steer their 'jingle trucks' -- named after the noisy chains hanging from their technicolour flanks -- through the Karkhano checkpost just outside Peshawar to cross into Khyber district.

Once there, they are at the mercy of not only the Taliban but also marauding Pashtun tribesmen and crooked officials demanding bribes -- although truckers say the situation is much worse in Afghanistan.

-- 'The sword of death hangs over us' --

Nearly 100 Pakistan-based drivers and their assistants have been killed on the route to Kabul over the past year, most of them in Afghanistan, said Haji Sher Zaman, president of the Pakistan-Afghan truck owners' association.

About the same number of trucks had been destroyed in rocket and bomb attacks over the same period, said the Peshawar-based official.

For running these risks, drivers earn an average of 18,000 rupees (300 dollars) a month, while helpers who travel in the cabins earn about a third of that, Zaman said.

The wage is more than triple Pakistan's average monthly income, but because many have bought their own vehicles and have hefty loan repayments at a time of rising inflation, they endure the risks and remain in their jobs.

Peshawar truck owner Rajib Khan said the Taliban recently left warning letters under his lorry and dozens of others parked overnight at Landi Kotal, the main town in Khyber district and the scene of the attack in March, warning them to 'stop helping US forces or face the consequences'.

'The sword of death hangs over us, but what can we do?' said the clean-shaven 27-year-old, who had just returned from Afghanistan after delivering a container load of energy drinks to US forces in Kabul.

'I know what I am doing is un-Islamic because I am taking these goods for the unbelievers' army, but this is my business,' he said.

The growing insecurity of the route is meanwhile adding to existing concerns among Islamabad's Western allies about cross-border attacks by militants based in Pakistan's tribal belt.

The road from the southern port city to Karachi, up to Peshawar and then through the Khyber region is the only way for NATO and the US-led coalition to get sea-borne supplies to Kabul.

Four US helicopter engines worth more than 13 million dollars went missing while being transported by a Pakistani truck company from Afghanistan earlier this year.

Pakistani officials however say June's offensive in the Khyber district targeting Islamic militants has improved security in the area and eliminated a threat to Peshawar itself.

Perhaps the only people to benefit from the insecurity are the traders at the shabby bazaar next to Pakistan's Kharkano checkpost, about 10 kilometres from Peshawar city centre.

Under the gaze of Pakistani police, their cramped shops offer looted US and NATO equipment, including military fatigues, desert boots, stretchers and holsters.

Fifty dollars buys a US-issue helmet or a NATO gas mask and chemical hood.

One trader nervously removed a bag full of official US military documents including a US army software update for AH-64 Apache gunship helicopters when an AFP reporter browsed through them.

'Most of the helmets are bought by motorcyclists but some people use them for cricket,' said another trader, Faqir Ahmed, who has run a shop in the market for 15 years but only started selling military gear after 2001.

A customer browsing at the market, Omar Sadiq, had no qualms.

'People come here because it is very economical,' he said. 'The quality is very good and the price is even better.'