Militants destroy 2 NATO trucks in Khyber Agency

Militants fired rockets and opened fire on Nato vehicles near Jamrud in Khyber Agency.

PESHAWAR: Militants in Khyber Agency attacked Nato oil supply trucks with rockets and assault rifles on Monday, destroying two vehicles, officials said.

Militants fired rockets and then started shooting at the vehicles with assault rifles in Katakasht village near the town of Jamrud in the Khyber tribal district, tribal administration official Arshad Khan Afridi told AFP.

"An oil tanker carrying fuel for Nato forces in Afghanistan caught fire after militants attacked with rockets and assault rifles," Afridi said.

Another oil tanker in the convoy of four trucks also caught fire and was destroyed, he said. "A driver and his assistant were wounded and shifted to hospital," he said.

Local intelligence officials confirmed the attack. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but intelligence officials blamed the Taliban.

The bulk of supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan is shipped through the Khyber region, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through central Asia.

Pakistan shut its main northwestern border crossing to Nato supply vehicles on September 30 for 11 days after a cross-border Nato helicopter assault killed two Pakistani soldiers.

Scores of Nato supply vehicles were destroyed in gun and arson attacks while the crossing was shut, as Taliban militants stepped up efforts to disrupt the route in response to US drone strikes in the country's tribal belt. Attacks have continued since then.