Sixteen killed in NATO fuel truck blast in Pakistan

By Ibrahim Shinwari, Reuters
Saturday, 21 May 2011

REUTERS

Residents survey a truck carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, after it was hit by a bomb attack in Landikotal in Pakistan's Khyber region

At least 16 people were killed in northwest Pakistan today after a bomb attack claimed by a militant group hit a truck carrying fuel supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, the latest attack in an upsurge in violence since Osama bin Laden was killed.

It took place near the Torkham border crossing in the Khyber region, the main route for moving supplies to NATO and American forces in Afghanistan.

"The tanker was on fire because of a blast late in the night. There was another blast early in the morning in the same tanker and 16 people who gathered near it to collect oil were killed," a senior local administration official in Khyber told Reuters.

Police officials said the first blast was caused by a bomb.

In another attack in the same region, a bomb struck 16 NATO fuel trucks last night, setting them on fire. No one was hurt.

Militants have stepped up attacks in Pakistan since US special forces killed al-Qa'ida leader bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad this month.

Abdullah Azzam Brigade, a militant group affiliated with Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for both attacks on the NATO trucks.

"It is our jihad against Americans. We want to stop supplies for NATO from our territory," Abu Musa'ab, a spokesman for the group, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

The attacks on the NATO trucks in Khyber came hours after the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a US consulate convoy in the city of Peshawar.

One Pakistani was killed and 12 people were injured, including two lightly wounded US nationals.

Routes through Pakistan bring in 40 per cent of supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to the United States Transportation Command. Of the remainder, 40 per cent come through Afghanistan's neighbours in the north and 20 per cent by air.

The Pakistani Taliban are pressing ahead with their campaign of suicide bombings designed to de-stabilise the unpopular government, despite several army offensives against their strongholds along the lawless border region with Afghanistan.

Eight suspected militants were killed today when army gunship helicopters attacked their hideouts in Orakzai region, adjoining Khyber, local officials said.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 87311.html