Militants torch NATO tankers in Pakistan

Peshawar: Wed, Feb 9

Unidentified militants in northwest Pakistan have torched four trucks carrying fuel supplies for US-led forces stationed in Afghanistan, security officials say.

In the incident, which happened on Tuesday, bombs planted underneath one of the trucks exploded in a market on the outskirts of Peshawar, Reuters reported.

 

The blaze soon spread to three other trucks parked alongside, releasing huge black plumes of smoke. However, there were no reports of casualties.

Trucks carrying supplies for foreign forces in Afghanistan frequently come under attack in Pakistan. Militants have destroyed hundreds of NATO vehicles in northwestern and southwestern Pakistan over the past two years.

Pro-Taliban militants claim responsibility for such attacks, arguing that the assaults are in retaliation to non-UN-sanctioned US airstrikes on Pakistan's tribal areas.

Washington claims the strikes target militants, but the attacks have led to the deaths of hundreds of Pakistani civilians since 2008.

Despite the frequent attacks on NATO supply convoys, the US military has not stopped its unauthorized drone attacks in Pakistani territory.

According to Pakistani sources, for every militant the attacks kill, at least 50 civilians die.