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| Another 40 Nato supply vehicles torched in Peshawar |
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Tuesday, December 09, 2008
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: Forty more military vehicles were set on fire on Monday in yet another attack on Nato forces’ logistics inside a transport terminal at Hazarkhwani, only a day after around 171 trucks of the allied troops fighting against the Taliban in Afghanistan were torched in Pishtakhara.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Peshawar, Kashif Alam, said six trailers and nine containers were torched in the incident.
Eyewitnesses and another senior officer, who requested anonymity, however, disagreed with his senior, saying 40 military vehicles of the Nato forces were destroyed and 10 others damaged in the blaze. The official said the figure did not include the damaged trucks.
The SSP Peshawar had also denied torching of 170 military vehicles in Al-Faisal Terminal and the Port World Logistics in Pishtakhara on Sunday, saying 62 trucks and Humvees were gutted there.
Surprisingly, neither any attacker was seen nor any rocket-propelled grenade fired at the Bilal Terminal in Hazarkhwani, where almost 50 armoured personnel carriers (APCs), or Humvees, were loaded on trucks.
A watchman, performing duty at the terminal, told investigators that he saw a Humvee catching fire after which he scurried to inform his supervisor. The gunman further said when they came back from the nearby compound, all the APCs had caught fire after which they called the police.
Residents of the nearby areas, including Hazarkhwani, Gulbahar, Sethi Town, Chughulpura, Yakatoot, Bahadur Killay and several other towns woke up around 3:15 am by hearing the loud bangs. The explosions continued even till 6 am, spreading scare among the entire populace of the provincial capital.
“The blasts were probably of lorry engines that would have exploded after catching fire. In fact, none of those present on the spot saw any attacker or rocket coming from outside,” Superintendent of Police (SP), City Circle, Mohammad Ashraf, told The News.
It has been learnt that two watchmen were rounded up over the mysterious episode during which not a single attacker was seen but over 80 precious vehicles were torched. “We are looking for two boys in a nearby village who have been missing since the incident,” Kashif Alam said.
Only a day ago, as many as 171 Nato forces vehicles were set on fire, which destroyed around 130 and damaged over 40 others. Those also included 62 Humvees. Police disagree with the tally and believe the total figure was 62.
Recalling the Sunday’s incident, security guards of Al-Faisal Terminal and the Port World Logistics stated that around 300 attackers were involved in that incident that occurred in the vicinity of Pishtakhara. A security guard was also killed when he offered resistance.
A similar attack was also witnessed on December 1, during which 15 vehicles were torched and two watchmen were gunned down.
“The site of Monday’s blaze is hardly 2 kilometres from the spot of two early attacks on the Nato supplies. However, the difference between these incidents is that the watchmen had seen the attackers in the two earlier incidents and had exchanged fire with them while nobody was seen in the latest act of terrorism,” a police official opined.
AFP citing the police sources claimed that nearly 100 vehicles were torched in the incident.
This time the attackers set nearly 100 vehicles alight, including jeeps and 20 supply trucks, after dousing them with petrol, police said.
Firefighters called to the scene managed to save another 40.
“It was almost the same type of attack as the one conducted by 200 armed militants” the previous night, police official Anwar Zeb said.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
