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| India-Pakistan |
| Militants torch 13 Nato vehicles |
| 2009-03-16 |
| In a fresh attack on Nato supplies here on Sunday, suspected militants torched 13 military vehicles and over a dozen containers in a parking lot in Hazarkhwani after torturing three security guards. A police official said that a group of around 60 militants attacked the Pak-Afghan Container Terminal on the Ring Road near Hazarkhwani, which transships logistics to Nato forces fighting against Taliban in Afghanistan, and set on fire containers and vehicles by firing rockets and hurling petrol bombs at the facility around 3:00am. It has been learnt that the attackers overpowered three guards -- Mamoor, Abdul Samad and Abdul Ghaffar -- before entering the venue and then started torching the vehicles. A party of nearby Agha Mir Jani Shah police station, according to a police official, rushed to the spot and exchanged fire with the attackers, who managed to flee the spot. "We traded fire with the attackers for almost half an hour after which the miscreants fled the scene," a police official said. "Thirteen vehicles, including trucks and mini-trucks, were torched in the attack," an official of Agha Mir Jani police station told this scribe. The official, however, did not mention torching of any container. Eyewitnesses said 13 vehicles, including trucks, dumpers and armoured personnel carriers as well as 20 containers, were set on fire. Five of the containers were reduced to ashes while the rest were damaged partially. The fire caught by the containers and vehicles could not be extinguished till 11:00 am. "It was like a war between two militias. We heard bangs as well as exchange of fire via automatic weapons. The fresh incident tormented the area residents who thought of getting rid of the threat after the government's decision to shift terminals to the Punjab," a local, Rahim Jan, recalled. The government had ordered not to park Nato containers in the local terminals after a number of attacks on these establishments during the past few months. Several companies, however, never cared about the government directives as well as security arrangements to the goods being transported via this route to Afghanistan. It may be mentioned here that police had recovered two bombs connected with cellular phones from the Ring Road near the Canal Road only a few hours before Sunday's attack on container terminals. "The two bombs were having around 10 kilograms of explosives and over 4,000 ball bearings. The explosives were connected with cellular phones for detonation through a phone call," said Inspector Atiq, an officer supervising the area. Over 300 containers and military vehicles, including Humvees, had been set on fire by suspected militants in around 10 attacks on these terminals on the Ring Road between Pishtakhara and Hazarkhwani areas since December last year. |
| Posted by:Fred |