PESHAWAR: At least 10 NATO supply tankers were burnt to bare iron when unidentified militants attacked them in the wee hours of Saturday on the Ring Road in Peshawar.
A 2.5 kilogramme bomb was also discovered from the site, which was later defused by the Bomb Disposal Squad, reports said. According to details, the armed suspects launched the attack on Arbab Jamil workshop on the Ring Road, where a number of NATO supply tankers were parked.
Police said the attackers were at least six in number, while witnesses claimed that over two dozen militants carried out the attack. Salman, a witness, said that around 24 armed men beat up the security guard manning the workshop before setting the vehicles on fire. It was the third attack on NATO supply vehicles in the area.
Angered by repeated incursions by NATO helicopters into Pakistani territory in late September and the subsequent killing of two Pakistani soldiers in what NATO said was erroneous assault, Pakistan blocked supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan on September 30 for more than a week.
Taking advantage of the situation, militants attacked and torched more than 150 trucks and tankers across the country that were carrying supplies to NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan. At least six drivers and their helpers were also killed in the attacks.
Several senior US officials apologised for the NATO attacks before Pakistan opened the border on October 9.
