No respite: Driver killed in attack on NATO containers

Another driver sustained injuries in the incident.

JAMRUD: A driver was killed and another injured when unidentified militants opened fire at a convoy carrying Nato containers in Jamrud tehsil, Khyber Agency on Friday morning.

The convoy of containers was headed to Karachi from the neighbouring country when it came under attack at around 10:30am, said Khandad Afridi, a khasadar line officer.

According to Khandad, suspected militants sprayed bullets at the vehicles in Shangai, a mountainous area in Jamrud. Two drivers identified as Hamidullah and Habibullah were severely injured in the attack while the assailants managed to escape.

Khasadar personnel rushed to the site, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation during which five suspects were arrested, added Khandad.

The injured were taken to Hayatabad Medical Complex, where Hamidullah succumbed to his injuries.

On May 16, a convoy of vehicles en route to Karachi came under attack twice in Jamrud, leaving one driver dead.

Previously, only vehicles heading to Afghanistan with Nato supplies were attacked. However, after the announcement of the expected withdrawal of Nato troops from the war-torn country, containers heading back have also come under attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 25^th, 2013.