Khyber Agency: NATO truck driver dies in militant attack

Unidentified men opened fire on Afghanistan-bound truck on Jamrud Bypass.

JAMRUD:

After a lull of a month and a half, militants attacked an Afghanistan-bound Nato truck carrying supplies for Nato troops on Tuesday, killing a driver and injuring another in the Jamrud subdivision of Khyber Agency.

After a surge in attacks on Nato trucks, the political administration had imposed a ban on motorcycles in Jamrud to curb them. The latest incident occurred after the ban was lifted.

An official of the administration, Asmatullah Wazir, told The Express Tribune that unidentified men on a motorcycle opened fire on the drivers on the Jamrud Bypass, killing one on the spot, and injuring the other. “Militants opened fire at two containers and after spraying them with bullets, they successfully escaped,” Wazir said, adding that the incident occurred at a time when Khasadar personnel were on duty in the area.

Wazir identified the deceased driver as Khana Baz, a resident of Landi Kotal. The injured was identified as Imran, an Afghan citizen. Imran was rushed to Jamrud Civil Hospital, from where doctors referred him to a hospital in Peshawar.

He added that security forces launched a search operation in the area and arrested eight suspects, while nine Khasadar personnel, who were on duty, were also included in the investigations. “Once again we are considering banning motorcyclists in the tehsil. It is the only way to curb these attacks,” Wazir stated.

Talking to reporters from an undisclosed location, a man, who identified himself as Abu Hamza and cited his association with a hitherto unknown militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack. However, while talking to The Express Tribune, an official of the political administration said, on condition of anonymity, that these claims were baseless. “The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is in fact attacking these vehicles and no one else was involved,” the official claimed.

On October 6, an improvised explosive device planted by the roadside near Shah Zaman Kallay, Jamrud, exploded near a vehicle loaded with armoured vehicles for Nato troops in Afghanistan, in which a driver was injured.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2012.