Pakistani Drivers Killed In Attack On NATO Supply Trucks

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal

August 21, 2014

Gunmen in northwestern Pakistan have killed two Pakistani truck drivers who were trying to deliver fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The attack early on August 21 took place in the Khyber tribal region about 25 kilometers west of Peshawar on the main highway that links Peshawar to the Torkham border crossing into Afghanistan.

Local authorities and witnesses said both drivers were shot by militants on motorcycles who were carrying automatic assault rifles.

The gunmen set the fuel tankers on fire using Molotov cocktails, leaving both men inside the vehicles.

Local officials say a third oil tanker also was burned in the attack. They say the driver was injured but managed to escape.

NATO supply trucks with fuel, ammunition, and food supplies frequently come under attack during their journey from Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi to the border crossings into Afghanistan.

With reporting by AFP