Punjabi Taliban Claims Responsibility for Attack on Nato Convoy in Pakistan

The Punjabi Taliban, a group of disbanded Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Wednesday accepted the responsibility for the attack of a NATO supply convoy near Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad late Tuesday night, which killed at least 8 Pakistani nationals and wounded another 6 in addition to the destruction of some 60 trucks, local sources told Xinhua.

Photo: Punjabi Taliban Claims Responsibility for Attack on Nato Convoy in Pakistan

The attack took place in a parking lot at Tarnol area, some 50 km southwest of Islamabad, at around 11:30 p.m. local time. Witnesses told Xinhua some 30 unknown gunmen attacked the 60-plus NATO vehicles carrying oil tankers and other essentials for supply in Afghanistan. The attackers opened the fire at the fleet parked there indiscriminately and then set the oil tankers on fire, Xinhua informs.

Police said at least 10 gunmen struck just before midnight at a depot in Tarnol, on the Grand Trunk Road that links Rawalpindi with Peshawar. They opened fire on the trucks, killing drivers and security personnel, before setting them alight.

Police arrived, sparking an exchange of fire, and the attackers escaped to the west on motorbikes and in small pickup trucks. At first light, six hours later, flames were still licking through the hulks of charred military vehicles and fuel tankers. Plumes of thick black smoke rose into the sky near the capital, The Guardian reports.