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Taliban claim responsibility for NATO tankers attack

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, Nov 20, IRNA -- Pakistani Taliban Saturday claimed responsibility for attack on NATO oil tankers in the northwestern city of Peshawar, local media reported.

Unidentified gunmen in the wee hours of Saturday attacked a workshop and set on fire NATO oil tankers destined for Afghanistan, police and witnesses said.

Around 10 tankers were engulfed in flames as suspected armed militants opened fire on a workshop for NATO vehicles in the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.

A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack and said that they will launch more similar attacks on NATO supply lorries, Dawn TV reported.

The latest attack was launched at a time when the leaders of the countries involved in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan are meeting in Lisbon on the sidelines of the NATO summit to discuss further steps aimed at establishing peace and order in the war-ravaged country.

Suspected militants frequently attack NATO supply lorries in Pakistan, the mail supply route for some 152,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Reports suggest that the NATO summit is likely to discuss an alternate route for NATO supplies as the risk of attacks on supply trucks exist and the Saturday’s attack has sent a message to the alliance leaders.

Police said that six armed men attacked a workshop on the Ring Road of Peshawar early Saturday and torched 10 trucks parked there. Witnesses said the number of the attackers were more than 20, who fled after the attack.

Witnesses said that the attackers also beat the workshop guards who earlier showed resistance.

The repeated attacks on NATO convoys have put NATO under heavy pressure as nearly 70 percent of NATO supplies and 40 percent of its fuel are reportedly being shipped through Pakistan to Afghanistan.

In October Pakistan closed main NATO supplies route as a protest over the killing of three soldiers in NATO helicopters shelling in a border region. The route was reopened after the U.S. formally tendered apology.

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Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30082599