Militants torch Nato supply truck, two dead

Nato supply truck torche­d in Khyber tribal distri­ct near Peshaw­ar, killin­g two people.

KHYBER: Armed militants with petrol bombs and assault rifles torched a Nato supply truck in Pakistan's Khyber tribal district today (Friday), killing two people, officials said.

Around a dozen militants attacked the truck used to supply goods to Nato forces in Afghanistan in Shah Kas village in Kyber district near the main northwestern city of Peshawar before dawn, a local official said.

"First, they killed the driver and the cleaner and then set the truck on fire by hurling petrol bombs," said Mohammad Arshad Khan.

Intelligence officials in Peshawar also confirmed the attack and said the attackers fled the scene afterwards.

The attack came just days after Nato supplies via a vital Pakistani border crossing with Afghanistan resumed last Sunday.

Pakistan shut the main Khyber Pass crossing on September 30 after a cross-border assault from a Nato helicopter based in Afghanistan killed at least two Pakistani soldiers, straining already tense ties.

The bulk of supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan is shipped through the Khyber region.

Scores of Nato supply vehicles were destroyed in gun and arson attacks while the border crossing was shut, as militants stepped up efforts to disrupt the route and avenge US drone strikes.