29 NATO tankers in new Pakistan attack

QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 9, AFP Gunmen Saturday torched at least 29 oil tankers in southwest Pakistan, the sixth attack in just over a week as Islamist militants continue to target a NATO supply route into Afghanistan.

Two police officers were hurt in the attack in remote Mitri area, 180 kilometres (112 miles) southeast of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas rich Baluchistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.

“Some 30 gunmen attacked the tankers, which were parked outside a roadside hotel and opened fire early Saturday morning, injuring two local police officials,” Abdul Mateen, a senior administration official in Mitri, told AFP.

He said the fire engulfed 29 tankers, adding the local administration have called firefighters from the nearby Sibbi town to extinguish the fire. “We will be able to have a precise idea about the losses only after the fire is brought under control.” Mateen said the tankers, which were on their way to Afghanistan had stopped in Mitri overnight. 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.

Taliban militants have launched five attacks on NATO supply vehicles in Pakistan in the past week to avenge a new wave of US drone strikes targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in the country’s northwest.

Pakistani authorities have reported 26 drone attacks since September 3 which have killed more than 140 people in the region, a hub for homegrown and foreign militants fighting in Afghanistan.