NATO supply lines were severely disrupted when resistance forces attacked and destroyed 25 tankers in the town of Shikarpur, Pakistan located in the Sindh province. The U.S. had recently killed 45 people in drone attacks in the same region.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
Nato supply lorries torched by gunmen in Pakistan
There have been up to six ambushes on Nato supply convoys in the past week
Gunmen in Pakistan have torched at least 10 oil tankers carrying fuel for Nato vehicles in Afghanistan in the latest such attack in the country.
A driver was also killed in the attack near the south-western city of Quetta.
There have been several ambushes on tankers in the past week since one of the main border routes into Afghanistan was shut by the Pakistani authorities.
The Torkham crossing was closed after three Pakistani soldiers were killed in a Nato helicopter strike in Pakistan.
Islamabad has not yet said when the border post will be reopened.
Wednesday's attack happened in the parking area of a roadside hotel on the outskirts of Quetta, police official Shah Nawaz Khan told the AP news agency.
Reports say that the tankers were thought to have been en route to a smaller border crossing into Afghanistan that still remains open.
The latest attack comes a day after a bomb damaged an oil tanker in the Khyber tribal region.
The tanker was parked alongside more than 100 other trucks waiting to enter Afghanistan. No-one died in the incident.
On Friday, at least 27 lorries carrying supplies for Nato troops were set on fire in the southern Sindh province.
Nato has been playing down the logistical impact of the attacks, but analysts say if such ambushes continue, they will begin to have an impact.
It says the trucks passing through Pakistan carry fuel, military vehicles, spare parts, clothing and other non-lethal supplies for foreign troops in Afghanistan.
The Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said on Monday that its operations were so far unaffected by the attacks but that it was "beginning to explore other options".
Supplies are currently brought into northern Afghanistan via Uzbekistan and Tajikistan but the spokesman declined to say which northern route was being considered.
The other main Nato crossing from Pakistan to Afghanistan - Chaman in Balochistan - remains open.
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