QUETTA: Suspected Taliban militants on Friday torched five trucks carrying fuel from Pakistan to NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, killing a driver, police said.

The attack took place at Bolan pass, some 70 kilometres (40 miles) south of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas-rich Baluchistan province bordering Iran and Afghanistan, where both separatist rebels and Taliban militants are active.

“A truck driver was killed and two others were wounded in the pre-dawn attack by around two dozen gunmen,” Bolan district police chief Junaid Arshad told sources.

“There were about 13 tankers parked at a trucking station. Gunmen set five tankers on fire before fleeing,” he added.

Asked about the attackers the police official said they could be “religious elements” in an indirect reference to Taliban militants.

Hundreds of people have died since Baluch insurgents rose up in 2004 demanding autonomy and a greater share of the profits from natural resources.

A security official confirmed the incident but said nobody claimed responsibility for the attack.

NATO and US-led forces in landlocked Afghanistan are hugely dependent on Pakistan for supplies, with about 80 percent passing through Pakistan.

The bulk of supplies and equipment required by foreign troops is shipped through northwest Pakistan’’s tribal region of Khyber, where Taliban militants have carried out a series of attacks on trucks.