DTN News: Taliban Back In Full Swing Destroying Nato Oil Tankers, Shops In Khyber

DTN News: Taliban Back In Full Swing Destroying Nato Oil Tankers, Shops In Khyber *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR, Pakistan - July 17, 2009: Suspected Taliban militants planted bombs in northwest Pakistan that destroyed two tankers supplying fuel to Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan, officials said Friday. The incident took place in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region. Militants have carried out a series of strikes against supplies for US and Nato-led foreign forces in Afghanistan. ‘A convoy of seven tankers was on its way to Afghanistan when one of the tankers blew up and caught fire, killing a fruit vendor and burning at least 50 shops in a nearby market,’ local government official Rehan Gul Khattak said. He said another tanker exploded near Landi Kotal, the main town in Khyber, after militants planted another bomb. A cleaner accompanying the second truck sustained burn wounds, he added. Another official, requesting anonymity, confirmed the blasts. Militants have carried out a series of strikes against supplies for US and Nato-led foreign forces fighting against a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. The bulk of supplies and equipment required by the foreign troops across the border are shipped through Khyber. US officials say northwest Pakistan has become a safe haven for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who fled the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and have regrouped to launch attacks on foreign troops across the border.