Four killed in attack on Nato convoy

Militants in Pakistan have attacked tankers bringing fuel to Nato forces in Afghanistan, killing four people.

The attack today took place close to the city of Peshawar in the northwest of the country.

Police officer Liaquat Ali Khan says around 15 militants armed with rockets carried out the attack.

At least 12 tankers parked in a roadside terminal were set alight.

He says the dead were drivers or their assistants.

Islamist militants and criminals often attack trucks carrying supplies for US and Nato troops.

The supplies arrive in Pakistan's port city of Karachi and travel overland to Afghanistan.

Earlier, suspected US missiles hit a house and car in a village in northwest Pakistan close to the Afghan border, killing at least six people, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The strikes occurred within minutes of each other in the North Waziristan region, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to brief the media.

Unmanned drones frequently fire missiles at suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban militants on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border. The attacks have emerged as a major weapon in Washington's campaign against militants that are blamed for attacks in Afghanistan as well as plots against the West.

The officials said three missiles slammed into the house, killing four people. Two people were killed in the strike on the car. They did not identify the victims.

American officials do not publicly acknowledge the programme or say who they are targeting.

Pakistani intelligence is believed to co-operate with the CIA in at least some of the attacks.

There were on average two attacks a week last year, the most intense period of strikes since the programme began in earnest in 2008. Most of the strikes hit North Waziristan, one of seven tribal regions in the border area and the only one where the Pakistani army has not launched any operations.

 

Add a Comment