Militants torch NATO tankers bound for Afghanistan

Pakistani militants torched more than a dozen NATO oil tankers carrying fuel for troops in Afghanistan on Monday. The attack follows a decision by the Pakistani government to close a key border crossing used by NATO forces to move supplies into Afghanistan. Pakistani officials said the closure was in response to continued U.S. drone attacks on the Pakistan side of the border.

The Torkhum border crossing remains closed, leaving long queues of oil tankers and containers stranded along roadsides and vulnerable to militant attacks. Torkhum is one of two main supply routes used by NATO to move non-lethal supplies into Afghanistan. More than 80 percent of all NATO supplies move through Pakistan.

Hundreds of oil tankers and containers have now been forced back to Peshawar, where they are parked on the roads, causing panic among residents who worry the trucks could draw Taliban attention and more attacks.

Thursday’s decision to close the border was triggered by consecutive U.S. air strikes in restive North Waziristan and Kurram, which border war-wracked Afghanistan. Those attacks killed 56 suspected militants, U.S. and Pakistani officials said.