[ NATO Trucks Hit in New Pakistan Raid - NTDTV ]
Gunmen in Pakistan set fire to around 40 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supply trucks, police said, according to Reuters. This was the latest in a series of assaults in Afghanistan.
The attacks happened on the same day the United States apologized to Pakistan for an accident in which U.S. helicopters killed two Pakistani soldiers on September 30. It was the most serious of recent cross-border incidents involving NATO-led forces fighting in Afghanistan.
The gunmen set fire to 20 fuel tankers near the southwestern city of Quetta.
“There are 15 to 20 tankers. A fire is still raging. No one can come close to them for now. We don’t know about casualties,” Ali Anan Qamar, a top administration official in the northwestern city of Nowshera said, Reuters reported.
The Pakistani government’s actions toward militants has been in question again since an alleged al-Qaida plot to attack European targets has been brought to light. The country is currently recovering from floods last summer that left over 10 million homeless.
The United States has increased the use of pilotless drone aircraft strikes against militant targets within Pakistan’s borders, further deepening concern of a more aggressive U.S. war strategy. Tensions could deepen if Washington demands more cooperation from Pakistan before a gradual July 2011 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Reuters reported.
