By DPA
Islamabad : Pakistani transporters supplying oil to US and NATO troops in Afghanistan have suspended supplies from a major refinery because of repeated militant attacks on tanker trucks at the border, a press report said Thursday.
"We have decided to halt oil supply from the Attock Oil Refinery (AOR) to Afghanistan due to lack of any security network," said Shakir Afridi, president of the Transporters' Association, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported.
During the past month alone, 23 oil tankers were destroyed by bombs and rockets while parked awaiting customs clearance at the Torkham crossing point by the Khyber Pass, Afridi said.
Last Monday, suspected Taliban militants with rockets destroyed nine tankers in the area in one attack.
Over the past four years, 174 vehicles were destroyed, 38 drivers were killed, 116 were injured and 15 were abducted, according to the official.
The suspension by AOR does not completely choke the fuel supply to international forces in landlocked Afghanistan. Several other companies also work the route, although Afridi said they had more choice where to park vehicles during clearance and were less vulnerable to attack.