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.
A Nato-led International Security Assistance Forces spokesperson told AFP they were "looking into the incident to determine if any of the fuel destroyed in Chawk-e Arghandi last night was intended for use by ISAF forces."
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.
Taliban have stepped up their attacks recently as the Nato forces complete their withdrawal by end of this year.
On Thursday, the Taliban insurgents fired rockets into Kabul airport destroying the Afghan president's parked helicopter and damaging three other choppers.
Eight military officers were killed the day before in a suicide bombing attack on an air force bus.
The Afghan capital has been relatively peaceful since the presidential election on June 14, though there have been street demonstrations as politicians are locked in a dispute over vote fraud.
All Nato combat troops will leave Afghanistan by December, with about 10,000 US troops staying into next year if the new president signs a security deal with Washington.
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@Raj - USA: Dear Raj, You and the other armchair warriors may be right, but I think the Taliban consider themselves the legitimate rules of Afghanistan. As for wiping them out the entire Western military has been attempting to do just that for 13 years to no avail. Prior to that the British Raj tried it for a couple of hundred years and then the Russians. I know I am wasting my time writing the following, but IK has been asking for meaningful negotiations for several years now. Best of luck to the Pakistan/Afghanistan people. With the current thinking I do not see you having a peaceful life any time soon. Incidentally Raj, who do you really think has been encouraging, training and supplying all the terrorist activity from the Mediterranean to the Sub-Continent over the last few years?
@AnisAqeel: Both countries should work together and wipe out all terrorists from their region. If any country thinks that it can favor / ignore some and go after others, sooner or later they shall see that the favored terrorists bringing in their allies like ISIS / Al Quaida from other countries and it will only be harmful both. Iraq has already become alarming. Besides this bombing of trucks, there are also reports in today's ET of suicide attacks in Saudi Arabia and suicide bombings in Somalia. Pakistan has taken a bold step which could be dangerous for itself, if it does not get cooperation from Afghanistan. Pakistan should also learn from its past mistakes and be absolutely sincere and truthful in its efforts to wipe out all terrorists and not ignore / favor some.
That shows by itself that how important and imperative Afghan Government and Pakistani Government needs each other for combating these terrorists! As the operation Zarb-e-azb is going on the Afghan / Pakistan border must be sealed and don't let any terrorist escape to Afghanistan.
400 to be exact as quoted by International media.