Gunmen on Sunday torched three trucks carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan in the southwestern Pakistani province of Baluchistan, officials said.

Gunmen on a motorbike fired at the vehicles and then set them on fire after pouring petrol on them in the Dasht suburb of the provincial capital Quetta, local police official Ismail Sumalani told AFP.

There were no casualties in the attack, which happened when the trucks had stopped at a roadside tea stall, he said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack but the Taliban has in the past said they carried out similar attacks to disrupt supplies for more than 130,000 US-led international troops fighting in Afghanistan.

Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked militants frequently launch attacks on NATO supply vehicles in the northwest and southwest regions of Pakistan, which border landlocked Afghanistan.

Most supplies and equipment required by foreign forces in Afghanistan are shipped through Pakistan, although US troops increasingly use alternative routes through Central Asia.

British soldier killed in Afghanistan blast
London (AFP) Nov 20, 2011 - A British soldier was killed Sunday in an improvised explosive device blast in southern Afghanistan's restive Helmand province, the Ministry of Defence said.

The soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, was a member of a joint foot patrol with Afghan National Security Forces in the Nahr-e Saraj area when he was killed in the IED explosion.

"Our deepest condolences are extended to his family at this very difficult time and all of our thoughts and prayers are with them," said spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Mackenzie.

The soldier's family have been informed.

The death brought to 389 the number of British troops killed since operations in Afghanistan began in October 2001.

Of these, at least 344 were killed in combat. He is the 41st to die this year.

Britain has around 9,500 troops in Afghanistan, making it the second-largest contributor to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

They are based in central Helmand, battling Taliban insurgents and training local security forces.