Islamabad, March 16: Gunmen have ambushed a convoy of NATO oil tankers in Southwestern Pakistan, torching four tankers and killing one of the drivers.
The attack took place in the Ghanjo Dori area of the Mastung district, 25 kilometers southwest of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, on Wednesday.
The tankers were heading towards the southern port city of Karachi after transporting fuel for the US-led forces in war-torn Afghanistan, DPA reported.
According to Buland Khan, a government official, six gunmen on three motorbikes first fired at the trucks, before setting them on fire.
The US military and NATO rely heavily on the Pakistani supply route into landlocked Afghanistan, more so now that Taliban attacks are increasing.
Supplies arrive by sea in the southern port city of Karachi, where security analysts believe most of the Afghan Taliban leadership is now hiding. From there, they must travel in long, exposed convoys, through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan.
Militants in the rugged tribal area have staged violent attacks in recent months, torching hundreds of NATO vehicles and containers destined for foreign troops in Afghanistan.
In response, Pakistani authorities have deployed large contingents of police and military forces on all major arteries in the area in an attempt to curb the attacks.
Other routes, largely through Russia and the Central Asian states, have proved to be too costly, both politically and economically.
——-Agencies