PESHAWAR: Six people were killed when militants attacked three Nato containers in Shagai area of Jamrud tehsil of the Khyber tribal region on Monday.

Security forces were engaged in a firefight with the militants who attacked the containers and set them on fire.

As a result, six people, including the drivers of the containers were killed.

Assistant Political Agent Jehangir Azam Wazir told Dawn.Com that about 15 militants armed with heavy weapons and rockets attacked the Nato trucks carrying military hardware near Shah Gai mountains.

“The attack was so sudden and quick that they first fired rockets on the vehicles and then bombed them, destroying the vehicles and the military hardware they were carrying,” he said.

He confirmed the death toll. “Six people have died in the attack. Three were drivers and cleaners who were burnt in the vehicles while three others who had been shot down were shifted to the Jamrud hospital."

Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and home to a number of militant organisations.

The tribal region also links several agencies to each other, serving as a north-south route within Fata.

Moreover, the bulk of supplies and equipment required by foreign troops in Afghanistan is shipped through the Khyber region, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through central Asia.