Assailants torched more than 20 tankers in Pakistan carrying fuel for
U.S. and NATO troops in neighboring Afghanistan on Thursday, in the
first reported attack since Islamabad closed the border to protest
coalition airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops last month.
Several
hundred trucks have been stranded at poorly guarded terminals around
the country as they wait for Pakistan to reopen its two border crossings
into Afghanistan. Around 40 percent of the non-lethal supplies for
U.S.-led troops in landlocked Afghanistan travel across Pakistani soil.
Islamabad
closed both frontier crossings into Afghanistan on Nov. 26, hours after
airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition killed 24 Pakistani troops on the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border. U.S. and NATO officials have said the
incident was a mistake, and have pledged to investigate.
Police
officer Hamid Shakil says unknown men fired rockets at a terminal for
the tankers close to the southwestern city of Quetta. He said at least
23 tankers were set ablaze. There were no immediate reports of
casualties.
Last year, Islamabad temporarily closed one of its
Afghan crossings to NATO supplies after U.S. helicopters accidentally
killed two Pakistani soldiers. Suspected militants or criminals took
advantage of the impasse to launch many attacks against stranded or
rerouted trucks carrying NATO supplies.
The deadly airstrikes at
the border sent already tense relations between Pakistan and the United
States to new lows, threatening Islamabad's cooperation in helping
negotiate an end to the Afghan war.
It came amid political
tensions in Islamabad following the resignation of Pakistan's ambassador
to the United States following an outcry from the country's powerful
military establishment, which is in charge of Afghan and U.S. policy.
Envoy Husain Haqqani stepped down because of allegations he wrote a memo
to Washington asking for its help to stop a supposed military coup.
President
Asif Ali Zardari has been under pressure because of the scandal, and on
Tuesday flew to Dubai for medical treatment related to a heart
condition. His trip led to rumors that the 56-year-old was losing his
grip on power.
Earlier Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton said the U.S. expected Zardari, an American ally, "will be able
to return in full health in his duties" after receiving treatment. A
statement for the presidency said Zardari's health was improving. AP
