Taliban fighters set hundreds of fuel trucks on fire in Kabul.(ET).
Update: At least 400 fuel tankers burn outside Kabul
KABUL: Taliban militants set fire to dozens of fuel trucks, which they claimed were supplying foreign troops in Afghanistan, in an attack on the outskirts of Kabul, officials said Saturday.
The fire triggered by a bomb set ablaze tankers waiting to enter the city in a parking lot west of the Afghan capital overnight.
“At around 10:30pm last night, dozens of fuel tankers belonging to private companies caught fire,” Hashmat Stanikzai, Kabul police spokesperson told AFP.
“No one can come close to them since the fire is still raging at the scene,” Stanikzai said.
No casualties were reported as fire fighters tried to control the fire in the morning, he added.
“I was sleeping in my truck, when I heard three big bangs. After that I saw the fuel trucks exploding one after the other. I fled the area immediately,” Janat Gul, a truck driver told AFP.
Gul Aghan Hashimi the Crime Investigation Director of Kabul police said “it was a magnetic bomb that caused the fuel tankers to catch on fire,” adding that the trucks belonged to private companies.
However, it was unclear whether the trucks were supplying fuel to Nato.
Taliban militants who have been regularly attacking western supply convoys in Afghanistan, claimed the responsibility.
“Our brave fighters in a special tactic have set ablaze hundreds of fuel tankers in the west of Kabul, which were supplying fuel and food for foreign forces,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said a statement.
