Fareed Khan / AP

Oil tankers, which were used to transport NATO fuel supplies to Afghanistan, are parked in a compound in Karachi, Pakistan on Thursday.

Fareed Khan / AP

Oil tankers, which were used to transport NATO fuel supplies to Afghanistan, are parked in Karachi on Wednesday.

Reuters reports that Pakistan has kept supply routes to NATO troops in Afghanistan closed for six months:

The United States has been pushing Pakistan to re-open supply routes to NATO forces in Afghanistan in difficult talks that show no signs of a breakthrough any time soon.

Pakistan closed the routes, seen as vital to the planned withdrawal of most foreign troops from Afghanistan before the end of 2014, in protest against last November's killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO air attack along the Afghan border.

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Fareed Khan / AP

A Pakistani man selling cold drinks pushes his bicycle between oil tankers, which were used to transport NATO fuel supplies to Afghanistan, in a compound in Karachi.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Images of daily life, political pursuits, religious rites and deadly violence.

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Amr Nabil / AP

Vehicles, at left, line up in front of a gas station in Cairo, Egypt on Fruiday. An acute fuel shortage in Egypt has disrupted Cairo's already congested traffic, with long lines of vehicles snaking around gas stations, and drivers spending the night in their cars.

Amr Nabil / AP

People stand near their cars as they line up in front of a gas station in Cairo.

The New Straits Times reports that the reason for the fuel shortage isn't clear:

Petroleum Minister Abdullah Ghorab flatly dismissed talk of a shortage, saying fuel supplies exceed demand. He said the crisis stems from “mistrust between the government and the citizens,” according to the state-run MENA news agency. 

Another Petroleum ministry official, Hani Dahi, was also quoted by MENA as saying that there is “a rise in the illegal use of fuel” and calling for tighter security measures to prevent black market dealers selling subsidised fuel at higher prices.

However, the manager of one gas station in Fayoum, a city south of Cairo, put the blame squarely on the government’s shoulders and its stewardship of the economy. “I used to get a daily supply of 30,000 liters (7,900 gallons) of diesel, now I get 13,000 every three days,” said the manager, who asked not to be identified. “Any talk about smuggling is a sheer lie because if there is enough fuel in the market, none would buy from the black market.”

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