Bomb destroys 16 NATO tankers in Pakistan

A bomb destroyed at least 16 tankers on Saturday carrying fuel for NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, Pakistan police said, the latest in a string of attempts to disrupt supplies. A total of 28 NATO oil tankers were parked at a terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar, the main city in Pakistan's northwest, at the time of the explosion, which triggered a fire that engulfed 16 of the vehicles. "We are trying to move away other oil tankers. We are not clear whether the bomb was planted in the terminal or with a tanker," police official Khurshid Khan told AFP from the site. "Sixteen tankers were completely destroyed." There were no reports of any casualties, he added. Mohammad Ijaz Khan, another senior police officer in Peshawar, said fire fighters were frantically trying to control the blaze. He said three explosions were heard before the fire swept through the parked tankers. No group has claimed responsibility but the Taliban have in the past said they carried out such attacks to disrupt supplies for more than 130,000 US-led international troops fighting in Afghanistan. Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants frequently launch attacks across northwestern Pakistan and the lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border, which Washington has branded the most dangerous place in the world. Most supplies and equipment required by soldiers in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistan, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through Central Asia.