The Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) owned up to both the recent attacks on the NATO convoy trucks through a phone call from an undisclosed point. They warned of more such attacks in the future, if Pakistan was used as a route to organize supplies to the foreign troops in Afghanistan.
As a result of the two bombing incidents in Pakistan in the last week, three people died and eight were injured. The injured and the dead were mostly drivers and their helpers. In both incidents, the NATO trucks were carrying fuel supplies for the troops fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, when the heavily armed gunmen attacked the convoy with Molotov cocktails. This set the trucks ablaze instantly, lighting up the night sky. The Pakistani fire brigade was seen struggling to control the fire, which had begun to spread.
These incidents started after Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Hussain Haqqani, announced that the transit route to Afghanistan would reopen shortly following some political pressure from the US. The Khyber Pass had been temporarily shut down following Pakistani solidiers’ death from a NATO helicopter strike. The helicopter had been following militants into the tribal belt of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. This area is known to be the centre of Taliban based activities. A two member Pakistani team has joined the ISAF and US officials investigating into the incident of the solidiers’ death in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, a long queue of trucks and other supplies are patiently waiting at the northwest border to deliver their supplies to the troops.
