NATO fuel supplier blaze kills 7 in Afghanistan

Residents claim that the tanker was attacked by Taliban using rocket-propelled grenades.

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN: Seven people were burnt to death in southern Afghanistan on Friday when a fuel tanker supplying a NATO base crashed and set their vehicle on fire, officials said.

Both the security chief of Panjwayi district in Kandahar and the provincial police chief said there was no insurgent activity at the time, but residents told AFP the tanker was attacked by Taliban using rocket-propelled grenades.

A US soldier serving in NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was charged with 17 counts of murder last month following a killing spree in the same district on March 11.

Sardar Mohammad, Panjwayi's security chief, told AFP: "A fuel tanker supplying fuel for ISAF overturned and caught fire, and simultaneously a civilian minivan was passing nearby also set ablaze."

Seven people were killed and three others injured, he said, who were taken to hospital.

Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq confirmed the death toll, telling AFP: "This fuel tanker was coming from the city of Kandahar to Panjwayi district at high speed.

"On its way this tanker overturned and caught fire," he said. "A civilian minivan was passing on the way and the vehicle was also set ablaze."