Taliban attacks NATO supply, fuel trucks in Afghanistan
NATO supply trucks drive toward the border terminal in Chaman on July 17, 2012. Pakistan on July 3 decided to reopen overland routes to NATO convoys crossing into Afghanistan, after they were closed following US air strikes that killed 24 soldiers on the Afghan border last November.
The Taliban attacked a NATO supply depot today in Afghanistan destroying 24 trucks – including a fuel tanker – with a bomb and then opening fire as flames spread.
The parked trucks contained fuel and supplies for US and coalition forces fighting in the war-torn nation, The Associated Press said.
“There was a big boom,” a local government spokesman told the AP. “It’s possible that is was a magnetic bomb from insurgents. We are investigating. I counted 20 fuel tankers burning. There is still a very big fire. The weather is very hot and it's hard to get close to the fire.”
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, Reuters reported.
“At 2 a.m. the mujahedeen attacked the invader NATO trucks,” a Taliban statement said.
“We put explosives on a fuel tanker,” a Taliban representative told the AP. “When it exploded, we fired on the trucks.”
NATO wouldn’t confirm the fuel was for its forces or bases, The Telegraph reported.
“Very early this morning a fuel truck parked in a large staging area along with dozens of other trucks was targeted with an improvised explosive device,” a spokesman said. “The device went off, there was an explosion and subsequently Afghans in the area were able to remove most of them, with the exception of 24 trucks.”
The attack occurred in the same province, Samangan, where 22 people died during a suicide attack on a wedding last weekend.
The blast killed Ahmed Khan Samangani, a local politician.
More from GlobalPost: Ahmed Khan Samangani, prominent MP, killed in Afghanistan wedding attack
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