36 NATO Fuel Tankers Destroyed by Taliban Fighters in Pakistan, Driver and Assistant Killed, October 2, 2010

36 NATO Fuel Tankers Destroyed by Taliban Fighters in Pakistan, Driver and Assistant Killed

October 2, 2010

Two killed as dozens of NATO tankers torched

The Daily Times, Pakistan, October 2, 2010

QUETTA/SHIKARPUR:

A driver and helper of a NATO trailer were killed by while three dozen tankers carrying fuel for the alliance were set ablaze by suspected terrorists on Friday.

According to sources, a vehicle, which was transporting goods for NATO forces from Karachi to Kandahar, came under attack near Baghbana Tehsil of Khuzdar.

The attackers first fired shots at it injuring both the driver and the helper. Later they set it on fire killing the two. The trailer was completely destroyed. A police official blamed “anti-state elements” for the attack. The attackers then managed to escape.

The bodies were taken to Divisional Hospital Khuzdar for autopsy. Their identities could not be ascertained. Separately, suspected terrorists set fire to three dozen tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan, officials said. Senior local officials blamed “extremists” for the attack on the tankers in Shikarpur.

About 12 people, their faces covered, opened fire with small arms into the air to scare away the drivers and then set fire to 35 tankers. “Some of them have been completely destroyed and others partially. But there is no loss of human life,” Shikarpur police chief Abdul Hameed Khoso said. staff report/agencies

Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for attack on NATO oil tankers

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 2, 2010 (Xinhua) --

Pakistani Taliban Saturday claimed responsibility for the attack on tankers carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Militants fired rockets on NATO oil tankers near the southern city of Shikarpur in Sindh province early Friday, destroying 27 tankers, and the police exchanged fire with the militants but the militants fled after the attack, according to district officers.

Spokesman for the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Azam Tariq said that "Siara Group" of Taliban has carried out the attack. He said Siara group is part of Hakimullah group.

He said all NATO supplies trucks would be targeted and TTP men have been tasked in the four provinces.

Tariq said that Siara group has been launched in South Waziristan but people from other areas are part of the outfit.

The attack occurred a day after Pakistan blocked supplies trucks for NATO forces in Afghanistan, apparently as protest against the NATO airstrikes which killed three Pakistani soldiers on Thursday.

Tariq alleged that some journalists have become "part of American propaganda" and are "using their pen against Taliban."

The Taliban spokesman said that TTP fighters have reached different areas in South Waziristan and are fighting against the security forces.

Thousands of Pakistani troops launched major air and ground offensive against militants in South Waziristan in October 2009 and expelled militants from the region.

Editor: Fang Yang

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