Two dead as tanker ambushed in Pakistani tribal area
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Suspected pro-Taliban militants ambushed a tanker carrying water to an army post in Pakistan's tribal belt near
Afghanistan, killing the driver and a contractor, officials said.
The gunmen opened fire on the vehicle near Thabi village, about three kilometers (two miles) north of Miranshah, the main town in rugged North Waziristan region, a local administration official said on Monday.
"The driver died in a hail of bullets while a civilian contractor travelling with him tried to escape into the mountains but the assailants shot him dead," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"It was a private tanker supplying water to an army post in the area," he said.
Militants also fired two rockets at a military base in Miranshah overnight, prompting a retaliatory strike by troops, but there were no casualties, a security official said. The rockets had landed in an open area, he said.
Clashes between Pakistani troops and Islamic militants at two places in North Waziristan last week left up to 40 militants dead.
Last month the army said another 200 suspected tribal insurgents were killed in fierce clashes with government forces.
Pakistan, a key US ally in the "war on terror", has deployed 80,000 troops along the border to hunt suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who hid in the area after Afghanistan's Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last month warned foreign insurgents to leave the semi-autonomous tribal belt or be killed.
Afghanistan, killing the driver and a contractor, officials said.
The gunmen opened fire on the vehicle near Thabi village, about three kilometers (two miles) north of Miranshah, the main town in rugged North Waziristan region, a local administration official said on Monday.
"The driver died in a hail of bullets while a civilian contractor travelling with him tried to escape into the mountains but the assailants shot him dead," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"It was a private tanker supplying water to an army post in the area," he said.
Militants also fired two rockets at a military base in Miranshah overnight, prompting a retaliatory strike by troops, but there were no casualties, a security official said. The rockets had landed in an open area, he said.
Clashes between Pakistani troops and Islamic militants at two places in North Waziristan last week left up to 40 militants dead.
Last month the army said another 200 suspected tribal insurgents were killed in fierce clashes with government forces.
Pakistan, a key US ally in the "war on terror", has deployed 80,000 troops along the border to hunt suspected Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants who hid in the area after Afghanistan's Taliban regime was toppled in late 2001.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last month warned foreign insurgents to leave the semi-autonomous tribal belt or be killed.
posted by Marko at 4/10/2006 08:11:00 AM
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