Balochistan

Armed men torch 29 oil tankers

Gunmen in the Mitri area of Balochistan set fire to 29 tankers carrying fuel for Nato troops in Afghanistan.

Shezad Baloch October 10, 2010

QUETTA:

Gunmen on Saturday torched at least 29 oil tankers in southwest Pakistan, the sixth attack in just over a week as militants continued to target a Nato supply route into Afghanistan. Two police officers were hurt in the attack in the remote Mitri area, 180 kilometres southeast of Quetta.

According to eyewitness accounts, the oil tankers were parked near a roadside hotel in Mitri when more than 30 armed men on motorcycles opened fire from four directions and also lobbed rockets on the oil tankers. Consequently, fire broke out in the tankers and also engulfed nearby shops. Firefighters were called from Sibi district in order to bring the blaze under control. After seven hours of continuous effort, the fire was brought under control.

At least two Balochistan Levies personnel sustained bullet injuries as they resisted the attack on the oil tankers by exchanging gunfire, official sources confirmed. They sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital for treatment.

Twenty-nine oil tankers and two shops were completely gutted in the attack and a huge fire also caused disruption to normal traffic on the National Highway. Levies officials and personnel rushed to the spot soon after the incident and threw a cordon in and around the area.

Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which came three days after militants torched over 40 Nato oil tankers and containers in the northwestern city of Nowshera and in southwestern Quetta.

“The assailants also fired rockets on oil tankers,” driver Mohammad Khan told this scribe. “We had arrived from Jacobabad at 2:00 am and we were sleeping in the hotel when assailants carried out their deadly attack.”

Two to three blasts occurred when oil tankers were engulfed by fire, an eyewitness account said. He said that the assailants who were riding over 20 motorcycles fled the scene after the attack. It was unprecedented that the assailants formed a huge lashkar in attacking the Nato oil and other supply vehicles in the area. Talking to journalists, Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mateen said that Levies personnel had sealed off all the existing and entry points of the district for the arrest of the culprits. (with additional input from AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10th, 2010.

COMMENTS (16)

Isfand | 14 years ago | Reply @Sajjid i agree with you tht Pakistan is nearly bankcrupt,but if Pakistan truly goes bankcrupt well it look more like Afghanistan............. Regarding to limited revenue of the goverment i agree with but thts not even due to the fact we are a poor country but the main reason is tht we dont pay enough taxes,we have one the lowest tax gdp ratio aroud 10%,(18 billion dollar)if we just bring this to atleast 25%(which i showed in the prevous comment is possible without even increasing the taxes for those who pay them today) well instead of 18 billion the govt will have 45 billion$!!,well i think tht we wont have again many of probs we have now........(Usa annual aid is around 1 and half billion).We can easily do this,the only thing we need is pubblic awarness and will. Other countries gdp tax ratio Pakistan 10% Srilanka 15% India 25% Japan 28% Usa 28% Italy 41% Sweden 50%

sajid | 14 years ago | Reply @ jflossy: Americas marrige with Pakistan in not love to pakistan, America is there in region for its own interest. Once American do not need Pakistan, they will dump like in western country young people change their girlfirend. Today pakistan shown one tactic Americans are more expert in any field then pakistan. They will have solution and paksitan will loose money.

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sajid | 14 years ago | Reply @ Ifsand: Read Sonya's comment: @Pakistani, you say it will take Pakistan weeks to go bankrupt.. whats left in here to go bankrupt? maybe bankruptcy is a better situation that what we have here now … I think 90% of pakistanis agree that Pakistan is a bankrupt state where govt, issue a PKR 500000 cheques to sialkot lynching brothers but do not have money in GOVT ACCOUNT. Where teachers and police are not getting paid on time, police have no money to buy amunition and GOVT is not able to supply. Lets be hypothitical that GOVT will collect taxes based on your arguments, it will go against the mass population so it will be opposition uprise in community, farm landlord will be against govt, bill to collect taxes from them ( they are powerful) and to put tax collection system in place it will take another 5 years. Now think in 5 years is there PAKISTAN?

jflossy | 14 years ago | Reply @annonymous ..So why are they using the Pakistan route then?.. Supply routes cost money and so does fighting a war, if the Yanks could find a better route they would have, its been 9 years ffs. The blocking of the supply routes is not meant to cripple there fighting ability, however if the blockade was extended and expanded to the Chaman border it would have very serious consequences on there fighting ability.

anonymous | 14 years ago | Reply ohh cummon..NATO has three alternative routes for their supplies in Afghanistan, from two central Asian countries other than Pakistan. This doesn't even bother their operations - not one bit. But this is mounting an international pressure on Pakistan.

Isfand | 14 years ago | Reply @Pakistani We wont go bankcrupt,annual Usa aid is not even 1% of the gdp wht we need is to serously fight tax evasion(6% of the gdp),and start to tax service sector and agricultural sector which alone can bring abt 20% of the gdp in tax revenuebringing the current 10% tax ratio to 30%.

jflossy | 14 years ago | Reply @pakistani ..Not being patriotic mate, but its a reality, America wont stop your aid as it has too much to lose if we stop the convoys, Pakistan does have some leverage and its well within its rights to use it..that is untill the next 911.

Sonya | 14 years ago | Reply @Pakistani, you say it will take Pakistan weeks to go bankrupt.. whats left in here to go bankrupt? maybe bankruptcy is a better situation that what we have here now ...

Pakistani | 14 years ago | Reply @jflossy,its nice to be patriotic but if US stops the aid it will take weeks for Pakistan to go bankrupt...

jflossy | 14 years ago | Reply The attacks on the tankers are a clear demonstation of the levarage we have over the NATO supply line, no Army can fight without supplies and these attacks will send a very clear message to NATO, that we control your supply lines and can cut it off and destroy them as we wish! These cowards that worry that we will be labled a failed state should get a spine and grow some balls!! Failed state or not, you cannot allow NATO to trample all over you, otherwise you will have no state at all,leave alone being labled a failed state.

Sarfaraz A. Hanfi | 14 years ago | Reply count again! 100 first century

IZ | 14 years ago | Reply Many of these tankers aren't even going to NATO, but to Afghan govt and to private companies selling oil at oil pumps. And why do we keep calling them NATO tankers when they are Pakistani tankers owned and operated by Pakistanis? As Sajid says this is more proof that we are a failed state.

sajid | 14 years ago | Reply Just wait for Pakistan number in failed state consideration. In 2008 it was 12, in 2009 it was 10 and now in 2010 it will be between 1 and 5. Afganistan will get better place the Pakistan.

sajid | 14 years ago | Reply This fellow is counting how many tanker Pakistan burned but rest of the world is looking at even if they have paid for this task, Pakistan can not provide security to their properties. How unstable a country can be? Look it from others perspective, it will relalise that this is a dire situation.

kiran | 14 years ago | Reply Had any one counting how many times dron attacks and how many killed?

anonymous | 14 years ago | Reply This makes the count to 71.

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