At least nine NATO fuel tankers have been torched in Afghanistan after a powerful bomb explosion rocked Jalalabad Airport in country’s eastern province of Nangarhar Press TV reports.

9 NATO oil tankers torched in eastern Afghanistan

Firefighters extinguish burning NATO supply oil tankers and goods trucks at a terminal following a bomb attack in Afghanistan (file photo).

The incident occurred on Sunday when a bomb planted in a fuel tanker detonated in a terminal near the airport, where NATO oil tankers were parked.

Jalalabad Airport, which is located five kilometers (three miles) southeast of Jalalabad, is currently used only for military purposes and is seen as the second largest US airbase in Afghanistan.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, but such attacks are usually blamed on Taliban militants.

Taliban militants frequently attack trucks carrying supplies from Pakistan to the US-led forces deployed in Afghanistan. Pakistan is the cheapest way for the Western military alliance to dispatch supplies to the foreign forces in the landlocked country.

Militants in neighboring Pakistan have also destroyed hundreds of oil tankers and containers carrying fuel and other supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan.

The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of combating terrorism. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country despite the presence of thousands of US-led soldiers.

The US-led war in Afghanistan, which has caused record-high civilian and military casualties, has become the longest military conflict in the American history.

MAS/MAM/PKH

Related articles

• NATO fuel tankers catch fire in eastern Afghanistan, 1 killed (nzweek.com)