The administration of Khyber Agency on Tuesday ordered suspension of oil and other supplies to US-led allied troops in Afghanistan after seven trucks including five oil tankers were destroyed in an overnight attack. A bomb exploded as two NATO oil tankers were entering a terminal in Torkham, a Pakistani tribal town bordering Afghanistan. Officials said the militants attacked an oil tanker with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
The explosion resulted in a fire that also damaged 7 trucks parked in the terminal on the Landi Kotal Bypass Road. Muhatar Zeb, an administrator of the lawless Khyber tribal district told AFP that two more NATO tankers were damaged and a driver and his assistant were wounded as militants opened fire. Firing took place in other areas as well. Unidentified gunmen fired at 10 NATO oil tankers parked outside a roadside restaurant in Adda Mohammad Wala, located some 100 kilometres west of Multan, police official Mian Javed said.
The police chief of the neighbouring district of Layyah, Mohammad Saleem said,” the blaze was so fierce there was a fear it would consume other tankers as well”. Saleem said it was too early to determine who was behind the attack but past incidents show that the culprits are usually Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants who frequently launch attacks across Pakistan and the tribal belt on the Afghan border. However no group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, he added.
