Tuesday, April 26, 2011

US Fuel Tankers Destroyed by Resistance Forces in Afghanistan

7 US fuel tankers torched in Afghanistan

Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:7AM
presstv.ir

Afghan security forces guard a burned out fuel tanker in Kunduz, north of Kabul. (file photo)
Taliban militants have attacked seven US fuel tankers supplying oil to American troops and torched them in Afghanistan's eastern province of Ghazni.

"A group of militants opened fire on a line of oil trucks destined for US forces in Roza area of Ghazni, located 136 kilometers (84 miles) south of the capital Kabul, early on Tuesday, leaving seven tankers on fire," a Press TV correspondent reported.

The assailants later fled the scene. Their whereabouts are unknown.

Zorawar Zahid, police chief of Ghazni, said that seven fuel tankers were set on fire in the act of terror. He noted that police cordoned off the area after the incident and have launched a search operation to arrest the perpetrators.

Taliban have meanwhile claimed responsibility for the assault on the oil tankers destined for US troops.

The US military and NATO rely heavily on the Pakistani supply route into landlocked Afghanistan, more so now that Taliban attacks are increasing.

Supplies arrive by sea in the southern port city of Karachi, where security analysts believe most of the Afghan Taliban leadership is now hiding. From there, they must travel in long, exposed convoys, through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan.

Militants in the rugged tribal area have staged spectacular attacks in recent months, torching hundreds of NATO vehicles and containers destined for foreign troops in Afghanistan.

In response, the Pakistani authorities have deployed large contingents of police and military forces on all major arteries in the area to curb the attacks.

Other routes, largely through Russia and the Central Asian states, have proved too costly both politically and economically to be viable.

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