Bombing of NATO oil tanker in NW Pakistan kills boy riding in van behind it

Bombing of NATO tanker in Pakistan kills boy

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A bomb attached to a tanker carrying fuel to NATO forces in Afghanistan exploded in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, destroying the vehicle and killing a boy who was riding in a van behind it.

The blast occurred when the tanker was just 4 miles (6 kilometers) from the Afghan border in the Khyber tribal area, said local administrator Iqbal Khan. The explosion wounded four other passengers in the van, he said.

Afghan-based U.S. and NATO forces get up to 75 percent of their supplies via routes through Pakistan. Taliban militants have frequently targeted the convoys, although attacks have declined in the last few months.

Also Wednesday, an explosion in the parking lot of a market in the center of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, caused minor damage but no casualties.

“We haven’t found any traces of explosives,” said acting Islamabad police chief Bin Yamin. “It seems that some gas cylinder in a car exploded but we haven’t found the car.”