Islamabad: Unidentified gunmen in southern Pakistan torched four tankers carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan on Thursday though there were no casualties, police and witnesses said.
The gunmen, who were riding motorcycles, first fired at vehicles in a convoy in Shakarpur district of Sindh province and then torched three tankers, witnesses said.
The incident occurred on the main highway linking Karachi with the country's northwest. This is the main route for NATO supply vehicles going to Afghanistan.
Traffic was suspended on highway for a while.
Police arrived at the scene and searched the area to apprehend the attackers but no arrests were made. The oil tankers were coming from the port city of Karachi and heading to Afghanistan.
The gunmen fled after the attack while firing in the air to keep people away from them.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Officials usually blame militants for such attacks on NATO supply trucks and tankers.
Attacks on NATO vehicles in the country s insurgency-hit northwest and southwest are common while such incidents in southern Sindh province are rare.
This was the second attack on NATO trucks in Pakistan in two days. On Tuesday, two people were killed when gunmen torched an oil tanker in southwestern Balochistan province.
Hundreds of supply vehicles cross into Afghanistan from Pakistan every day with fuel and other items for the 150,000 US-led NATO forces there.
Pakistan is the shortest supply route to Afghanistan though the US is now increasingly using other routes running through Central Asian states.
Comments
0 comment