NATO tankers, containers blown up in Pakistan, 2 killed

A top local administration official blames the attacks on local militants.

Peshawar: Militants on Thursday blew up four oil tankers and three containers carrying fuel and other supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, killing two people, officials said.

The incidents took place in the Khyber tribal region near the Afghan border, top local administration official Shafeerullah Khan said.

"A bomb planted underneath an oil tanker exploded while it was on the move in a market in Landi Kotal town of Khyber turning the vehicle into a ball of flame, which also engulfed four nearby vehicles and killed two people," Khan said.

He blamed the attacks, which also wounded 11 people, on local militants.

The lawless Khyber is on the main NATO supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan, where 150,000 foreign forces are battling to reverse an escalating Taliban insurgency.

Khan said militants also blew up three oil tankers and four containers carrying fuel and other supplies for NATO troops. "These vehicles were parked in Torkhum town at the time of attack", he added.

Local intelligence officials in Khyber also confirmed the attacks and casualties.

NATO supplies also travel through the southwestern province of Baluchistan, which is troubled by Taliban violence and attacks by separatists who rose up in 2004 demanding autonomy and a greater share of profits from natural resources.

PTI

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