Militants attack NATO oil tankers in Pak, driver killed

Unidentified militants in Pakistan's restive northwest tribal region today attacked a convoy of NATO oil tankers carrying supplies for western troops in war-torn Afghanistan, killing a driver.

The convoy of seven tankers was targeted near Sur Qamar area, about 10 kilometres from the Bab-i-Khyber on the main Peshawar-Jalalabad Highway in Khyber Agency's Jamrud district.

Some vehicles near the convoy also sustained minor damages, reports said. The militants fired two rockets on the trucks and used heavy machine-guns and rifles to target the supply convoy, officials said.

They said a driver was killed in the attack while two others were injured. Security forces and militants also exchanged fire for half an hour.

A heavy contingent of the paramilitary troops reached the spot and cordoned off the area. A search operation was also launched. A similar attack on Thursday on a NATO supplies convoy had killed a truck driver near Jamrud bypass.

Trucks travelling through Pakistan to supply US-led forces in Afghanistan have frequently been attacked during NATO's 13-year intervention in the war-torn country. International troops are winding down their operations and are expected to pull out from Afghanistan by this year end.