NEWS

Militants torch 260 NATO vehicles in Peshawar

Source:PTI
December 08, 2008 17:51 IST
About 100 vehicles destined for the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces in Afghanistan were set ablaze on Monday by heavily armed pro-Taliban militants in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, in the second such attack in as many days.

The militants stormed the Bilal container terminal after opening fire at the watchmen. They then lobbed grenades and torched container trucks and other cars, including Humvee armoured vehicles, officials said.Witnesses said trucks containing supplies and heavy equipment were destroyed in the attack. Some reports said the militants also used rockets during the strike. There were no reports of casualties in the incident.

Senior superintendent of police Kashif Alam told reporters that fire tenders were called in to the control the ablaze.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack but authorities usually blame the local Taliban for such strikes.

The early morning raid on the container terminal came just a day after militants mounted the biggest assault on the vital military supply lines for the NATO troops, destroying over 160 vehicles in two storage facilities in the same region and killing three persons.

In a similar attack on December 1, two persons were killed and over two dozen trucks were damaged when militants attacked another depot. Peshawar has about 20 terminals that are used by trucks ferrying supplies to US forces in Afghanistan.

Source: PTI
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