NATO trucks attacked, driver killed

File photo shows a Nato truck on fire in an earlier attack in Pakistan. PHOTO: REUTERS

PESHAWAR: Militants in Landikotal attacked two NATO supply trucks early Wednesday, killing a driver and wounding two other people, officials said.

Half a dozen militants armed with assault rifles launched the attack in Landikotal, in Khyber district.

“The militants started firing from the hilltop. A driver of one truck was killed on the spot, while his helper and another driver of another truck were injured,” local administrative official Iqbal Khatak told AFP.

Officials said the militants fled after the attack, and confirmed that the trucks were carrying goods for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan shut its northwestern border crossing to NATO supply vehicles on September 30 for 11 days after a cross-border NATO helicopter assault killed two Pakistani soldiers.

The bulk of supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan is shipped through Pakistan, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through central Asia.