QUETTA – At least 16 oil tankers carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan were badly damaged when unidentified armed assailants opened fire on them in Naseerabad district on Saturday. Per details the attackers arrived at Jamali Petrol Pump situated in the outskirts of Dera Murad Jamali, around 2:30am and opened fire, spraying bullets at 18 tankers parked at the station. One of the cleaners was injured in the incident. Petrol leaking from the tankers also caught fire and spread to other vehicles. Sixteen of the tankers were badly damaged as a result. Naseerabad Deputy Commissioner Abdul Fatah Khajjak told Pakistan Today that four armed assailants riding a white car arrived at the site and opened indiscriminate fire at the parked tankers. He said that four private security personnel deployed for the tankers’ safety did not retaliate, enabling the attackers to escape. This is the third major attack on NATO oil tankers in Balochistan in the last three months. At least 18 tankers were destroyed near Quetta while 28 tankers were damaged in Bolan district a few days later.
