Four people have been killed in an apparent attack by Islamic insurgents on fuel tankers in northwestern Pakistan carrying oil to NATO forces in Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal reports.
Police told RFE/RL the attack was carried out on Peshawar's ring road around 2 a.m. as the tankers were parked at a terminal.
Eyewitnesses said 16 fuel tankers were gutted by fire and that four people were killed in the incident.
Fazl-e Maula, the chief of the police station in Bala Manray, near where the attack took place, told RFE/RL that in addition to the fatalities, 10 others were injured in the incident.
The police official added that the attackers numbered from 20-25 and were armed with machine guns and rocked-propelled grenades (RPGs).
A young man who was among the injured and taken to Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, described the circumstances of the incident to RFE/RL.
"We were standing there and suddenly there was a blast followed by flames, and many people were burnt," he said. "Half of my body and arms are burnt."
Dr. Muhammad Shoib, a rescue official, told RFE/RL that "13 oil tankers have been completely destroyed and four dead bodies were found. And now, two people were found with severe burns and they were shifted to the hospital."
One day earlier, militants attacked a local militia force, the Khassadar, in the adjacent Khyber tribal agency, killing five members. A previously unknown group calling itself Abdullah Ezzam claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistani security forces have recently completed an anti-Taliban operation in the Mohmand tribal agency and claimed they had purged the area of militants.
Police told RFE/RL the attack was carried out on Peshawar's ring road around 2 a.m. as the tankers were parked at a terminal.
Eyewitnesses said 16 fuel tankers were gutted by fire and that four people were killed in the incident.
Fazl-e Maula, the chief of the police station in Bala Manray, near where the attack took place, told RFE/RL that in addition to the fatalities, 10 others were injured in the incident.
The police official added that the attackers numbered from 20-25 and were armed with machine guns and rocked-propelled grenades (RPGs).
A young man who was among the injured and taken to Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital, described the circumstances of the incident to RFE/RL.
"We were standing there and suddenly there was a blast followed by flames, and many people were burnt," he said. "Half of my body and arms are burnt."
Dr. Muhammad Shoib, a rescue official, told RFE/RL that "13 oil tankers have been completely destroyed and four dead bodies were found. And now, two people were found with severe burns and they were shifted to the hospital."
One day earlier, militants attacked a local militia force, the Khassadar, in the adjacent Khyber tribal agency, killing five members. A previously unknown group calling itself Abdullah Ezzam claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistani security forces have recently completed an anti-Taliban operation in the Mohmand tribal agency and claimed they had purged the area of militants.