WASHINGTON: Pakistan has told the United States that it is reopening land routes that NATO nations use to supply troops in Afghanistan, ending a seven-month closure imposed after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed by NATO aircraft last November, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and offered "sincere condolences" for the deaths, which spurred a major diplomatic rift between the two wary allies.

The State Department said Khar told Clinton the land routes were reopening, and that "Pakistan will continue not to charge any transit fee in the larger interest of peace and security in Afghanistan and the region," the State Department said. AGENCIES