Pakistan vs. NATO
December 12, 2011
The trucks, which had been carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, came under fire on Sunday after being forced to turn back before crossing the border. Pakistan closed its borders to NATO convoys in the wake of the NATO air strikes on November 26, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Sunday's convoy was approached by around eight gunmen on motorcycles, a senior local police official told AFP. The gunmen ordered the convoy to stop and started firing at the tankers. With Pakistan's closure of its borders with Afghanistan entering the 17th day, hundreds of trucks have been forced to turn back to the Arabian Sea port of Karachi in the south, providing a target for militants on the way.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has told the BBC that the blockade would not be lifted until "new rules of engagement and cooperation with the United States" had been set, the reference being to the November 26 incident which Pakistan still considers to have been a deliberate attack.
Author: Arun Chowdhury (dpa, AFP)
Editor: Sarah Berning