Islamabad: Heavily-armed militants on Wednesday
attacked military trucks carrying supplies to NATO and US
forces in Afghanistan, killing at least eight people and
torching up to 60 vehicles on the outskirts of Islamabad in
the first such strike near the Pakistani capital.
The attack was carried out by 10 to 12 militants when the
vehicles were parked at the Tarnol depot, police said.
The militants opened fire at the vehicles and then set
them ablaze. Up to 60 tankers and trucks, including several
loaded with military vehicles, were reduced to a twisted mass
of metal by a massive fire and several explosions.
Eight persons, including drivers, their helpers and
local residents, were killed and eight others injured in the
attack, police said.
Militants have earlier repeatedly targeted trucks and
tankers ferrying supplies to Afghanistan in the volatile
northwestern part of Pakistan but this was the first time that
such vehicles were attacked near Islamabad.
It was also one of the worst attacks on NATO supply
vehicles.
No arrests were made in connection with the incident,
officials said.
Witnesses and police said the attackers were travelling
on six motorcycles and two pick-up trucks and escaped after
the brazen assault.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack though
similar assaults in the past have been blamed on the Pakistani
Taliban.
Law enforcement agencies cordoned off the scene as
bodies and the injured were taken to nearby hospitals.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik ordered a magisterial
inquiry into the incident, sources said.
Rawalpindi and Islamabad are located on the road to
the northwestern city of Peshawar that is the main route used
by the supply vehicles. The bulk of supplies and equipment
required by US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan are shipped
through northwest Pakistan.
In the past, hundreds of trucks and tankers have been
destroyed in attacks by the Taliban in Peshawar.
Meanwhile, at least 14 Taliban militants were killed
today in clashes with security forces in northwest
Pakistan`s restive Orakzai tribal region.
A group of militants attacked a security check post in
Mashti Mela area of Orakzai, triggering a gun battle that left
eight terrorists dead and two security personnel injured, they
said.
Another six militants were killed in a separate clash
with security forces in Orakzai tribal agency, the officials
said.
PTI
