Islamabad - Islamist militants on Monday mounted an attack on a parking bay in Pakistan's north-western city of Peshawar, killing two people and destroying a dozen trucks loaded with supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan, police said.

The attackers initially fired gunshots inside the privately owned Faisal terminal, which was later rocked by at least three explosions believed to have been caused by rockets, police officer Fazal Mohammad Khan said.

"Two people inside the compound were killed while two more were wounded," Khan said by phone from Pushtakhra area in Peshawar.

He said fires gutted at least 12 lorries carrying sealed containers with food and military equipment for international forces fighting Taliban insurgents in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Two Humvee armoured vehicles used by US soldiers were also destroyed in the attack.

Contractors park their trucks and tractor-trailers in Peshawar city at night, and cross into land-locked Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass in the tribal region during daylight hours under military escort.

Pakistan temporarily suspended the movement of NATO-bound cargo through the 35-kilometre mountain pass last month after militants looted 13 trucks carrying food supplies and Humvee vehicles, and seized more than two dozen people travelling with the convoy.

The treacherous tribal areas are considered a hotbed of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters, who regularly carry out cross-border attacks on US-led international troops. (dpa)