Three dead in attacks on NATO tankers in Jamrud

JAMRUD: Three people were killed and 16 wounded when militants blew up one NATO supply oil tanker and opened fire on another in Jamrud, police and officials said.

The first incident took place near a market in Jamrud, when a remote controlled bomb went off late Saturday, triggering a huge fire and destroying up to 100 shops, police said.

"The remote-controlled device planted under the tanker exploded before it entered the tribal area, the fire has engulfed five markets," Mohammad Ijaz Khan, a senior police officer, told AFP.

Khan said the blaze destroyed up to 100 shops before the fire service brought it under control.

"Two people were killed and 15 other were wounded, militants were involved in this attack," he added.

In the second attack, around 10 kilometres from the site of the first, militants late Saturday opened fire on another oil tanker in the town of Jamrud, killing the driver and wounding his helper, local official Arshad Khan told AFP.

An intelligence official in Peshawar said both tankers were carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but the official blamed Taliban militants for the attacks.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011