Gunmen in Pakistan's troubled southwest opened fire on a tanker carrying oil for NATO forces in Afghanistan on Thursday, killing its driver and setting the vehicle ablaze, officials said.
The attack took place near the town of Wadh in Khuzdar district, 360 kilometres south of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province, local police official Jumma Khan told AFP.
Unknown gunmen flagged the vehicle to stop and opened fire when the driver ignored them, Khan said, adding that the driver was killed and his helper was wounded. The attackers set the vehicle on fire, he said.
NATO supply trucks and oil tankers are targets of frequent attacks blamed on insurgents attempting to disrupt supplies for international troops fighting in Afghanistan.
Most supplies and equipment required by coalition troops in Afghanistan are shipped through neighbouring Pakistan, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through central Asia.
Baluchistan — which borders Iran and Afghanistan — is torn by Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiite Muslims, and an insurgency by rebels seeking political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's natural resources.
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