Violence on Pakistan border:
Sixteen NATO tankers torched
PAKISTAN: Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan set ablaze 16 vehicles
carrying fuel supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan Saturday,
officials said. The convoy was attacked before dawn outside the town of
Dera Murad Jamali, some 400 kilometres southeast of Quetta, Baluchistan
province, local administration chief Abdul Fatah Khajjak said.
“The attackers, riding in a car, opened fire on oil tankers parked at
a petrol pump waiting for daybreak to resume their journey to
Afghanistan,” Khajjak said.
Some 16 oil tankers caught fire, but two more parked a distance away
were undamaged, he said. One of the fuel tanker staff was wounded by the
gunfire.
The gunmen fled after the attack and no one had so far claimed
responsibility, Khajjak said. A security official also confirmed the
attack.
In October, gunmen torched 29 oil tankers also bound for Afghanistan
in the remote Mitri area, 180 kilometres (112 miles) southeast of Quetta.
Baluchistan, which borders both Iran and Afghanistan, is torn by
Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between majority Sunnis and
minority Shiite Muslims, and a separatist insurgency by rebels seeking
political autonomy and a greater share of profits from natural
resources.
Most supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan
are shipped through Pakistan, although US troops increasingly use
alternative routes through central Asia.
Pakistan shut its main northwestern border crossing to NATO supply
vehicles on September 30 for 11 days after a cross-border NATO
helicopter assault killed two Pakistani soldiers.
AFP |