Miscreants set ablaze 5 tankers in Balochistan, abduct four drivers

Published March 23, 2015
Smoke and flame rise from a burning oil tanker after a gunmen attack. — AFP/file
Smoke and flame rise from a burning oil tanker after a gunmen attack. — AFP/file

QUETTA: Armed men set on fire five oil tankers in Balochistan's Mastung district on Monday and also kidnapped four drivers before fleeing from the scene.

Levies sources told DawnNews that armed men opened indiscriminate fire on five oil tankers in Kirdi Gap area of Mastung.

The sources added that the tankers were carrying fuel from Karachi for the Saindak Project situated in Balochistan's Chaghi district when they were targeted in Kirdi Gap.

The tankers caught fire as the gunfire ignited the fuel payload, following which the militants picked up four drivers and fled to an undisclosed location in the mountainous region.

Fire fighters were dispatched from Mastung city to put off the fire.

Levies and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel reached the spot as a probe into the incident went underway.

A search operation was launched in the area to ensure the safe recovery of kidnapped drivers, Levies said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, however, Levies suspect Baloch separatist militants could be behind the attack.

Oil tankers have regularly been targeted with arson attacks blamed on insurgents attempting to disrupt two key supply lines that cross western Pakistan

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