2 NATO tankers torched in Kalat

Uniden­tified assail­ants set fire to Nato tankers in Baloch­istan, killing one person and wounding a child.

QUETTA: Gunmen in Balochistan on Friday set ablaze two trucks carrying supplies for Nato troops in Afghanistan, killing one person and wounding a child, police said.

There was no claim of responsibility but the Taliban have mounted similar attacks to avenge US drone strikes killing militant commanders in Pakistan's northwest and to protest against the US-led war effort in Afghanistan. The first vehicle was attacked in the Mangochar area, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Quetta.

Two gunmen riding a motorbike stopped a Nato container, ordered the driver and his helper to leave the vehicle and then opened fire on it," local tribal police official Aziz Faisal told AFP.

In Baghbana, 280 kilometres (174 miles) south of Quetta, gunmen opened fire on another Nato container, killing the driver and wounding a 12-year-old boy.

"The gunmen also torched the container and escaped," another tribal police official, Muhammad Azam said. Police confirmed Friday's attacks, which came weeks after Pakistan on October 10 reopened the main northwestern land crossing into Afghanistan used by Nato supply convoys.

The border had been shut on September 30 after a cross-border Nato helicopter strike killed two paramilitary soldiers in northwest Pakistan, but a second crossing at Chaman in the southwest remained open.

Balochistan is the second biggest supply route to Nato troops in Afghanistan including those in Kanadahar. Attacks on Nato supply tankers along this route have increased in the recent past.

In the last two weeks, Nato authorities have held meetings with authorities in Balochistan seeking improved security for Nato tankers carrying supplies to troops in Afghanistan.