Karachi:
Suspected militants in southern Pakistan set ablaze more than two dozentankers carrying fuel for foreign troops in Afghanistan on Friday,highlighting the vulnerability of the US-led mission a day afterPakistan closed a major border crossing.
The Pakistani government shut the Torkham border in the northwest inapparent protest at a NATO helicopter incursion that killed three ofits soldiers on the border. The events raised tensions between Pakistanand the United States, which have a close but often troubled alliancein the fight against militants.
The convoy of tankers attacked on Friday was likely headed to a secondcrossing in southwest Pakistan that was not closed. It was not clear ifthe vehicles had been rerouted because of the closure at Torkham.
Around 80 percent of the fuel, spare parts, clothing and othernon-lethal supplies for foreign forces in landlocked Afghanistan travelthrough Pakistan after arriving in the southern Arabian sea port ofKarachi.
The alliance has other supply routes to Afghanistan, but the Pakistani ones are the cheapest and most convenient.
Islamist militants occasionally attack NATO supply tankers in Pakistan,mostly in the northwest where their influence is stronger. Friday'sstrike was in Sindh province, far from the border, and might be takenas a sign that the insurgents are expanding their reach.
Around 10 gunmen attacked the vehicles when they were parked at anordinary truck stop on the edge of Shikarpur town shortly aftermidnight. They forced the drivers and other people there to flee beforesetting the fires, according to a police officer.
No one was wounded or killed. The trucks were alight several hoursafter the attack, according to an Associated Press photographer at thescene. Another officer, said the tankers had arrived in Shikarpur fromthe southern port city of Karachi and were heading to Quetta, a majorcity in the southwest.
From there, the road leads to the Chaman border crossing. Attacks onNATO and US supply convoys in Pakistan give militants a propagandavictory, but coalition officials say they do not affect operations inAfghanistan. The vast majority travel through the country unharmed.Some of the strikes are believed to be the work of criminals.
Media reports have alleged that truck owners may be behind some ofthem, perhaps to fraudulently claim insurance. Pakistani securityforces provide guards for the trucks and tankers in the northwest, butgenerally do not do so in south and central Pakistan, where attacks arerare.
Pakistani security officials had warned after two alleged NATOhelicopter incursions last weekend that they would stop providingprotection to NATO convoys if it happened again. Opinion polls showmany Pakistanis regard the United States as an enemy, and conspiracytheories abound of US troops wanting to attack Pakistan and take overits nuclear weapons.
The Pakistani government has to balance its support for the US war inAfghanistan, and its need for billions of dollars in American aid, withmaintaining support from its own population. Friday's attack and thedecision to close to the border have underscored the uneasy relations.