Twenty-two tankers carrying fuel to the NATO-led coalition forces in Afghanistan were destroyed in a bomb explosion set off by the Taliban in the war-torn country's north early on Wednesday, reports quoting local officials said.
The vehicles were hit by the pre-dawn explosion engulfing them in flames, the officials said adding that there were no casualties as the area was deserted in the early morning hours.
Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, first of its kind in northern Afghanistan. The trucks, coming from Uzbekistan, were targeted in the same province where noted Afghan politician Ahmad Khan Samangani was killed by a suicide-bomber on Saturday while attending his daughter's wedding, reports said.
NATO has been heavily relying on overland supplies from Central Asia after Pakistan banned NATO convoys in response to a U.S. air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border in November last. Although Pakistan reopened the route this month, NATO traffic has yet to return to normal.
by RTT Staff Writer
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