|Video Courtesy of NTDTV |
An early morning raid by suspected Islamist militants on a NATO truck stand close to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, left several people dead and destroyed around 20 supply trucks. Nearly a dozen gunmen opened fire on the trucks, which were carrying millions worth in fuel and military supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Zia a truck driver who survived said he heard the militants talking before the attack, according to NTDTV.
“I overheard while sitting inside my truck, and they were saying, ‘Kill the drivers – don’t spare them. Torch the vehicles. Shoot every driver who tries to flee. Don’t let anyone run off.”
At least seven people were killed and six wounded in the unprecedented attack.
The Taliban frequently attacks supply trucks in the country’s northwest and southwest, near the border with Afghanistan, but this is the first time supply trucks have been attacked so close to the capital.
The suspected militants escaped in cars and on motorbikes after the raid. Supply convoys have been regularly attacked in Pakistan over the last several years.
Around half of all NATO supplies intended for Afghanistan pass through Pakistan. Pakistan’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, told Pakistani media that NATO is responsible for the security of its supplies, saying that the Pakistani government cannot provide security to the estimated 4,000 supply trucks which travel across Pakistan each day.
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