ISLAMABAD: Gunmen have attacked trucks carrying supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan, gutting dozens of vehicles in an inferno and killing seven people near Islamabad.
The overnight attack was unprecedented for its proximity to the Pakistani capital, taking place at a depot on the outskirts of Islamabad on the road to the northwestern city of Peshawar and towards the main NATO supply route into Afghanistan, police said yesterday.
Although militants have routinely attacked supplies for US and NATO-led foreign forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, the assault was one of the worst and underlines problems with security on the doorstep of the heavily guarded capital.
Rows of tankers and trucks were reduced to a twisted mass of metal before the inferno at the Tarnol depot was brought under control, including a dozen loaded with military vehicles.
“Seven deaths have been confirmed. Four people are injured. There is no information about any arrests,” said police official Gustasab Khan. He said the casualties were the drivers of the trucks, their helpers or locals.
Police could not give a breakdown on the number of tankers and containers destroyed at the sprawling Tarnol depot, which is also used by local vehicles.
Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, similar assaults in the past have been blamed on Taliban fighters.
“Unknown attackers opened fire on vehicles parked at Tarnol,” said police official Tahir Riaz. “Fire erupted in the tankers and trucks, and over a dozen were set ablaze. They were trucks carrying NATO supplies.”
Kalim Iman, inspector-general of Islamabad police, said 10 to 12 attackers had stormed the terminal before escaping, but he declined to put a precise figure on the losses.
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