4 NATO tankers torched, driver killed in Pakistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, March 17, IRNA -- Unidentified gunmen in Pakistan’s southwest Wednesday torched four oil tankers, carrying fuel for NATO troops in the neighbouring Afghanistan, and killed a driver, police and witnesses said.
The armed men opened firing at tankers parked outside a roadside restaurant in Mastung district, some 60 kilometers south of Quetta, the provincial capital, they said.
The tankers caught fire and four were torched. A driver was killed and a cleaner injured in firing, police said. The injured was taken to hospital.
An official in Mastung, Muhamamd Ismail, said that four armed men, riding two motorcycles, arrived at the restaurant and opened fire on the tankers. The gunmen fled after the incident.
Officials said that the tankers were empty at the time of the attack and had returned from Afghanistan after delivering oil.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. Taliban militants usually carry out attacks on NATO supplies lorries across Pakistan.
Police said they have registered case against unidentified persons.
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 being shipped through Pakistan to some 150,000 NATO troops in 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 US formally tendered apology.
The U.S. has already struck deal with Russia for an alternate supply route in view of frequent attacks in Pakistan.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
