150 Militants Attack U.S.-NATO Supply Line

Trailers en route to Afghanistan torched in northwestern Pakistan

Pakistani drivers push a half burnt truck after militants attacked a terminal on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sunday, April 12, 2009. (Photo credit: Mohammad Sajjad / AP)

April 12, 2009

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — About 150 militants armed with rockets and automatic weapons attacked a transport terminal in northwestern Pakistan that lies along a key supply route used by U.S. and NATO troops, wounding three guards and torching eight cement trucks Sunday, police said.

Militants in Pakistan frequently attack cargo terminals and other stops used by vehicles taking supplies to Western troops in Afghanistan through the legendary Khyber Pass.

Scores of trucks have been damaged and several people have died, adding urgency to U.S. efforts to find safer supply routes.

The latest attack started around 2 a.m. on the outskirts of the main northwestern city of Peshawar, local police officer Gharibullah Khan told The Associated Press.

“They fired rockets and used automatic weapons and torched at least eight trailers carrying cement,” he said.

A gunbattle at the scene wounded three guards, one of whom was in critical condition, Khan said. …

A view of destruction of NATO supplies near Peshawar, Pakistan on Friday, April 3, 2009. Militants using guns and gasoline bombs attacked a terminal in northwest Pakistan holding supplies bound for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, damaging five shipping containers, police said. (Photo credit: Mohammad Sajjad / AP)

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Related reports

U.S. supply line attacked (Dec. 8, 2008)

Militants hijack U.S. suppy convoy (Nov. 11, 2008)

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IRAQ UPDATE

Suicide Bomber Kills 12 Sunni Militiamen in Iraq

April 11, 2009

ISKANDARIYA, Iraq — A suicide bomber killed 12 Sunni Arab militiamen lining up to collect overdue paychecks at an Iraqi army post south of Baghdad on Saturday, and wounded 32, police said.

A series of attacks this week that have alarmed Iraqis as they ponder whether a sharp drop in violence set off by the 2003 U.S. invasion can be sustained as Iraqi forces take the lead from U.S. troops in providing security.

Five U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi policemen died on Friday when a suicide bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives at a police post in the northern city of Mosul. Earlier in the week, bombings in Shi’ite areas of Baghdad killed at least 44 people. …

Saturday’s attack was in Iskandariya, 25 miles south of the Iraqi capital, once part of an area known as the “Triangle of Death” where Sunni extremists like al Qaeda frequently attacked Shi’ite Muslims. …

The U.S.-sponsored Sunni patrolmen, or Sahwas, helped cut the violence in Iraq after they turned on al Qaeda and other insurgents, but ties between them and the Shi’ite-led government in Baghdad have been strained by recent arrests. …

An official at the mortuary of a local hospital, where survivors were brought on blood-stained stretchers, screaming in pain, said it had received 13 bodies.

Many of the Sahwa were former insurgents and fear the government will target them for past crimes. The U.S. military had been paying their wages until late last year but has now passed all responsibility for the militia to the government. …