25 NATO tankers torched in Pak; one killed

Islamabad shut down the Torkham crossing along the fabled Khyber Pass last Thursday after a NATO helicopter attack in the border area killed three Pakistani troops. The closure has left hundreds of trucks stranded alongside the country’s highways and bottlenecked traffic heading to the one route into Afghanistan from the south that has remained open.

Suspected Taliban militants on Wednesday torched more than two dozen tankers carrying fuel to NATO troops and killed a driver Wednesday, the sixth attack on convoys taking supplies to Afghanistan since Pakistan closed a key border crossing almost a week ago.

The NATO tankers, on their way to Afghanistan, were attacked on the outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, early on Wednesday morning, Deputy Inspector General Police Hamid Shakil said.

A group of gunmen opened fire at nearly 40 tankers parked at Akhtarabad along the main highway between Quetta and the border town of Chaman, a witness said.

The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for the past week’s attacks on NATO convoys and threatened more such assaults to avenge the U.S. strikes against them.

Mr. Shakil told reporters that one driver was killed and another injured. He said the attackers came in vehicles and fled after the assault.

Fire fighters were called in to extinguish the blaze that erupted during the attack and police said they faced difficulties in their operation. The contractors of NATO supply vehicles are responsible for their security when the trucks and tankers are parked.

Islamabad shut down the Torkham crossing along the fabled Khyber Pass last Thursday after a NATO helicopter attack in the border area killed three Pakistani troops. Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said the route was blocked due to anger in Pakistan over the air raids and that the supplies would be restored after the security situation is improved.

The closure has left hundreds of trucks stranded alongside the country’s highways and bottlenecked traffic heading to the one route into Afghanistan from the south that has remained open. Hundreds of supply trucks still cross into landlocked Afghanistan each day through the Chaman crossing in southwestern Pakistan and via Central Asian states.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said an investigation of the helicopter attack was expected to be concluded later on Wednesday, and that he expected the spat between allies could be resolved soon.

On Monday, militants attacked NATO tankers near the federal capital Islamabad, burning 28 vehicles and killing at least three people. On Friday, some 20 militants attacked a NATO convoy with rockets in Shikarpur, a city in southern Sindh province, burning nearly 30 tankers. Also on Friday, rockets were fired at two NATO supply trucks in the south-western city of Khuzdar. Two people were killed in the attack.

Militants have stepped up attacks on tankers and trucks in Pakistan after NATO helicopters carried out four air strikes in the tribal belt. Three soldiers died in an air strike on September 27.

Some 70 per cent of supplies for NATO and U.S. troops and 40 per cent of their fuel requirements are shipped to Afghanistan via Pakistan. Despite the attacks, Pakistan is the fastest and cheapest way to get goods to Afghanistan, and trouble with other routes in the past makes it even more vital. Uzbekistan evicted U.S. troops from a base that was used to ferry supplies into Afghanistan, and last year Kyrgyzstan threatened to do the same, though it has since backed down.

In addition to ensuring safe passage for NATO supplies, the U.S. needs Pakistan to help target Taliban and al-Qaida militants who stage cross-border attacks against foreign troops in Afghanistan. In return, Pakistan receives billions of dollars in military and civilian assistance that help keep its economy afloat.

Even if the border is reopened, underlying tensions will remain in the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, especially over Pakistan’s unwillingness to go after Afghan Taliban militants on its territory with whom it has strong historical ties and who generally focus their attacks on Western troops, not Pakistani targets.