Watch NATO: 2 killed, 10 wounded in helicopter explosion

NATO: 2 killed, 10 wounded in helicopter explosion

KABUL, Afghanistan – NATO says two people have been killed and 10 others injured in an explosion aboard a coalition helicopter just after it landed in eastern Afghanistan.
NATO says the helicopter, with about 26 people aboard, was already on the ground Tuesday when the blast occurred.
The coalition says it's unclear what caused the explosion.
The 10 wounded NATO service members were evacuated to a medical facility.
The landing site, which was not disclosed, has been secured by Afghan and coalition forces.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — President Barack Obama promised "to get to the bottom" of a failed rescue attempt by U.S. special forces that ended in the death a captive British aid worker in Afghanistan, after NATO said an American grenade may have killed her.
Obama offered his condolences to Prime Minister David Cameron in a phone call Monday and promised a full investigation.
NATO initially said a Taliban bomb killed Linda Norgrove, 36, during Friday's operation to free her from a compound in the eastern province of Kunar.
However, the coalition said Monday that, after reviewing surveillance footage, it is possible U.S. forces may have thrown a grenade that killed Norgrove nearly two weeks after she was kidnapped while traveling in the east.
"The review showed what was believed to be a member of the rescue team throwing a hand grenade in the area near where Ms. Norgrove was later found," said NATO spokeswoman Maj. Sunset Belinsky. "It's now unclear what the exact circumstances surrounding her death are, and the investigation will attempt to
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Watch Gunmen in Pakistan torch nearly 30 NATO fuel tankers

Gunmen in Pakistan torch nearly 30 NATO fuel tankers


QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – Gunmen in southwestern Pakistan set fire to nearly 30 tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan on Saturday, an official said, two days after the United States apologized to Pakistan for a cross-border air raid that killed two Pakistani soldiers.
Suspected Islamist militants have stepped up attacks on convoys carrying supplies for NATO forces since the September 30 NATO air strike in northwestern Pakistan described by the U.S. ambassador as a terrible accident.
About 20 gunmen set fire to around 30 tankers parked outside at a roadside restaurant near the southwestern town of Sibi in a pre-dawn attack, the official said.
The tankers were on their way to the border town of Chaman.
"The attackers first fired shots and then fired small rockets at the tankers. Twenty-eight to 29 tankers caught fire," local government official Naeem Sherwani told Reuters. He said one of the paramilitary soldiers escorting the convoy was wounded.
The U.S.-backed Pakistani government is battling Taliban insurgents who remain effective despite military crackdowns on their strongholds in the northwest near the Afghan border.
Two suspected suicide bombers struck at a crowded Sufi Muslim shrine in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Thursday, killing at least seven people and wounding 65.
The U.S. apology for the September 30 cross-border raid had raised the hopes that Pakistan would reopen a vital supply route in the northwest for coalition forces which Islamabad shut after the NATO strike, citing security reasons.
A second supply route passing through southwestern Pakistan has remained open.
Pakistan's foreign ministry said after the U.S. apology that security was being evaluated and a decision on reopening the supply route through the famous Khyber Pass would be taken "in due course," but also emphasised Washington and Islamabad were "allies in the fight against militancy."
Trucking routes through Pakistan bring in around 40 percent of supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan, according to the United States Transportation Command. Of the remainder, 40 percent come through Afghanistan's neighbors in the north and 20 percent by air.
The helicopter strike was the most serious of recent cross-border incidents involving NATO-led forces fighting in Afghanistan, which have stoked tensions with Pakistan.
The United States has been pressing Pakistan to take a harder line against militants launching cross-border attacks from their Pakistani safe havens on Western forces in Afghanistan.
Coppied by http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101009/wl_nm/us_pakistan_nato

Watches this 26 NATO tankers torched in new attack in Pakistan

26 NATO tankers torched in new attack in Pakistan

PESHAWAR—At least 26 NATO oil tankers were torched when militants opened fire on a convoy of dozens of vehicles parked in Nowshera in northwestern Pakistan, senior police officials said Wednesday.

The attack was the second of the day after militants opened fire on a terminal on the outskirts of the southwestern city of Quetta earlier, killing a staff member and destroying at least 18 vehicles.

The Nowshera attack was the fifth of its kind in a week, and both were claimed by the Pakistani Taliban "to avenge US drone attacks" in the northwestern tribal region on the Afghan border.

There were more than 70 vehicles including oil tankers and containers at the depot in Nowshera, and so far 26 tankers have been gutted, local police chief Nisar Ahmed Tanoli told AFP.

"Militants opened fire and also lobbed rockets which triggered fire," he said. "We have summoned fire brigades and efforts are underway to extinguish the fire."

There was no immediate report of casualties, he said.

Siraj Ahmed, a doctor at a state-run hospital near the depot, said he heard gunfire and several explosions.

"I went out and saw fire is raging at two places in a long row of NATO supply vehicles parked in the area. Firing was also heard," he said.

Another police official Imtiaz Ali said more than 25 tankers were destroyed.

"We are trying to remove other tankers to prevent fire from spreading further," he said.

Local Taliban militants have launched five attacks on NATO supply vehicles in Pakistan in the past week to avenge the new wave of US drone strikes targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

Pakistani authorities have reported 25 drone attacks since September 3 which have killed more than 140 people in the region, a hub for homegrown and foreign militants fighting in Afghanistan.
Coppied by http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view/20101007-296449/26-NATO-tankers-torched-in-new-attack-in-Pakistan

Ancident More Nato trucks burnt in Pakistan

More Nato trucks burnt in Pakistan
At least eight trucks are set on fire and one driver killed in the Pakistani city of Quetta, police officials say

Armed men in Pakistan have burned up to eight tankers carrying fuel for Nato forces in Afghanistan, killing a lorry driver, according to Pakistani police.

Shah Nawaz Khan, a police official, said on Wednesday that the attack, the latest on supply convoys since Pakistan closed a key border crossing to Nato forces last week, occurred in the parking lot of a roadside hotel on the outskirts of the southwest city of Quetta.

The attacks have raised tensions already elevated by Pakistan's decision to close the Torkham crossing in an apparent protest against alleged Nato helicopter strikes on its territory. One of those strikes killed three Pakistani soldiers.

The torched tankers are believed to have been on their way for a smaller border crossing that remains open.
Coppied by http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/10/20101063176915658.html