By IRNA,
Islamabad : A convoy of oil tankers and trucks, carrying supplies for US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan, left for Afghanistan Monday under tight security after a week-long suspension due to attacks on vehicles, officials said.
Suspected militants carried out at least five attacks on vehicles carrying supplies for foreign forces in Afghanistan in the Pakistani city of Peshawar over the past 10 days.
Officials say that over 300 trucks, including army jeeps, have been torched in these attacks, which had led to suspension of supplies.
An official in the Pakistani tribal region of Khyber Agency said that a convoy of around 160 supplies vehicles and oil tankers was sent to Afghanistan with escort of forces till the border.
Fida Muhammad, Assistant Political Agent, said that trucks with wheat of the World Food Programme were also sent to Afghanistan in the same convoy.
He said that 17 vehicles of security forces escorted NATO supplies trucks and around 300 security men were also deployed along the Pak-Afghan main highway.
Companies hired by NATO to drive fuel, food and other supplies to troops fighting the Taliban use the terminals in Peshawar’s Ring Road to park containers waiting for convoys across the border into Afghanistan.
Peshawar police chief Sifwat Gayoor says that the authorities have got some evidences about those involved in the attacks and have also arrested five suspects.
Earlier this month in the biggest ever attack on two terminals, the militants had torched around 200 tankers, trucks and army vehicles. Two people were also killed in the attack.
Trucks moving from Pakistan to Afghanistan have also been attacked and hijacked in the Khyber agency of tribal region.
Many believe that the attacks on NATO trucks are reaction to military offensives by Pakistan’s security forces in the tribal regions and Swat valley. As retaliation for the military presence, the Taliban have also carried out a series of deadly suicide bombings, and said the attacks will continue until the troops pull out.