NATO oil tanker torched in Pakistan

Wed Aug 10, 2011 6:28AM GMT

A Pakistani security official stands near oil tankers which were set ablaze by a bomb blast near the main border crossing of Torkham. (File photo)

Taliban-linked militants in Pakistan have blown up a NATO oil truck carrying fuel for US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan, local officials say.

The incident took place near the eastern city of Sargodha in Punjab Province, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Officials told Press TV that militants first opened fire upon the NATO tanker and then set it alight in the Harnoli Mor Peeplan village of the Sargodha district early Wednesday.

As a result, the tanker was completely destroyed but no human loss was reported in the incident.

The NATO oil tanker was en route to Kandahar city in Afghanistan from Karachi to deliver fuel to US-led forces stationed in the war-torn country.

NATO supply trucks are the target of frequent attacks in Pakistan.

Pro-Taliban militants often claim responsibility for such attacks, saying that the assaults are in retaliation for non-UN-sanctioned US airstrikes on Pakistan's tribal regions.

Washington claims the strikes target militants, but figures show the attacks have led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

Despite the frequent attacks on NATO supply convoys, the US military has not stopped its unauthorized drone attacks on Pakistan's territory.

MSH/JG/MB