Afghan soldiers remove the wreckage of damaged tankers from the explosion site in Kandahar, Afghanistan on Sunday, April 17, 2005. Suspected Taliban rebels set off a bomb next to a fuel tanker parked outside the main U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan early Sunday, setting off a chain of large explosions that destroyed five tankers and injured three drivers, officials said. (AP Photo/Noor Khan)
Taliban Bomb Trucks Carrying Oil for U.S. Military
Sun Apr 17, 5:58 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A bomb planted by Taliban rebels destroyed five trucks carrying oil for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and wounded three drivers, a senior Afghan army official said.
The pre-dawn blast destroyed one of the trucks parked outside Kandahar airbase -- a major U.S. military base in southern Afghanistan -- and caused four others to catch fire, said General Muslim Hamid, army corps commander for Kandahar province.
"Three drivers of the tankers have been critically wounded in the incident," he said, adding the three were from neighboring Pakistan.
Taliban attacks have picked up following a winter lull after the guerrillas failed in their vow to disrupt October elections. But activity is down on past years, fueling speculation that the movement may be struggling to find recruits and resources.
The attack on the oil tankers came a day after the Taliban triggered a remote-control explosive device that injured nine Afghan government soldiers in a passing car in Zabul province, district chief Wazir Mohammad told Reuters.
Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi confirmed the rebels were behind both attacks.
The Taliban, who U.S.-led forces toppled in late 2001 for harboring al Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, have warned local residents against helping or working for U.S.-led forces.
In an ambush on April 1, members of the radical group killed three Pakistani truck drivers carrying supplies for the U.S. military in Kandahar.
The rebels have rejected reports they are in reconciliation talks with the Afghan government and said they were training suicide bombers to target government officials, foreign forces and aid workers.
Afghan army soldiers examine burnt oil tankers in Kandahar, April 17, 2005. A bomb planted by Taliban rebels destroyed five trucks carrying oil for the U.S. military in Afghanistan and wounded three drivers, a senior Afghan army official said. REUTERS/Ismail Sameem