Two police officers were hurt in the attack in remote Mitri area, 180 kilometers southeast of Quetta, the capital of oil and gas rich Baluchistan province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
"Some 30 gunmen attacked the tankers, which were parked outside a roadside hotel and opened fire early Saturday morning, injuring two local police officials," Abdul Mateen, a senior administration official in Mitri, told AFP.
Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which came three days after militants torched over 40 NATO oil tankers and containers in the northwestern city of Nowshera and in southwestern Quetta.
Taliban militants have launched five attacks on NATO supply vehicles in Pakistan in the past week to avenge a new wave of US drone strikes targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in the country's northwest.
Pakistani authorities have reported 26 drone attacks since September 3 which have killed more than 140 people in the region.
The latest tanker attack came as the main land route for NATO supplies crossing from Pakistan to Afghanistan at Torkham in the northwest remained closed for tenth day running, following a US drone attack which killed three Pakistani soldiers.
The United States on Thursday apologized for the deadly strike on Pakistani soil, but Pakistan responded by saying there was "neither justification nor understanding" for the strike.
"We extend our deepest apology to Pakistan and the families of the Frontier Scouts who were killed and injured," US ambassador Anne Patterson said in a statement in Islamabad Wednesday.
"Pakistan's brave security forces are our allies in a war that threatens both Pakistan and the US," Patterson added.
"We believe that they are counter-productive and also a violation of our sovereignty," foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters, adding "we hope that the US will revisit its policy."
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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