Militants fire at NATO trucks, three hurt

Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles fire at two NATO tankers in northwestern Pakistan wounding three people.

PESHAWAR:

Taliban fighters armed with assault rifles fired at two Nato tankers on Monday near the town of Pabbi on the Grand Trunk road, wounding three persons, police said.

“Around eight militants in two cars intercepted two oil tankers and fired at them with Kalashnikovs,” local police official Hayat Khan told AFP.

“Two drivers and a helper were wounded and taken to a hospital in Peshawar. Their condition is stable now,” Khan said, adding that oil leaked from the tankers but did not catch fire.

Intelligence officials in Peshawar also confirmed the attack and said the attackers fled the scene. Pakistan shut the main Khyber Pass border crossing to Nato supply vehicles heading to Afghanistan on September 30 for 11 days after a cross-border Nato helicopter assault killed two soldiers.

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 Khyber crossing was shut, as Taliban militants stepped up efforts to disrupt the route and avenge US drone strikes.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2010.