NATO supply trucks hit for first time since way reopened

PESHAWAR

Trucks carrying logistic supplies for the NATO forces, which deployed in Afghanistan, waits for clearance near the Afghan border in Chaman, Pakistan. EPA photo

Gunmen in restive northwest Pakistan attacked a convoy carrying supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan, killing a driver, officials said, yesterday. It is the first such attack since Pakistan reopened its border to NATO supply convoys three weeks ago after a seven-month blockade staged in protest at a botched U.S. air raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at a border post.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Pakistani Taliban had warned they would target the trucks after the government reopened the supply line earlier this month according to the Associated Press. Gunmen targeted the trucks as they were passing near a bazaar in the town of Jamrud in the Khyber tribal area, said Faraz Khan, a local government official. Jamrud is located very close to Torkham, one of the two crossings used to transport NATO supplies to Afghanistan.

US drone strike kills 10

In addition to the driver who was killed, a second driver and his assistant were wounded, said Khan. Pakistan closed the route last November in retaliation for American air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, an incident the U.S. said was a mistake but the Pakistani military claimed was deliberate.

Islamabad finally reopened the supply line after the U.S. apologized for the deaths.

Meanwhile, a U.S. drone attack killed at least 10 militants in a northwestern Pakistani tribal area July 23, security officials said, according to Agence France-Presse. The missiles struck a militant compound in the Shawal area of the troubled North Waziristan tribal district on the Afghan border. Local residents said militants cordoned the area around the compound and were taking out bodies and wounded colleagues. There has been a dramatic increase in U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan since May.