Gasoline Tanker Trucks Bombed in Afghanistan Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [This follows the crash on takeoff of a US military plane a few days ago. Looks like the old Vietcong trick of watering the fuel might have been the cause there. Welcome to Afghanistan. The russkies tried to tell ya...] AP via Yahoo - June 16, 2002 Explosions Damage Gasoline Tankers By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) - Two small bombs attached to Pakistani gasoline tanker trucks that supply U.S. troops exploded early Sunday, causing slight damage but no injuries, police said. Local government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they suspect that al-Qaida or Taliban supporters may have been responsible for the blast at the gas station near the U.S. base at Kandahar airport. They said the attackers may have planned to detonate the bombs as the trucks entered the heavily defended air base, about 6 miles from the gas station. U.S. Army special forces and explosives experts refused to comment on the attack. Armored U.S. vehicles were seen cruising the desert flats near the gas station. Gas station owner Haji Akhter Mohammad said that someone had fired a rocket at the fuel trucks and gas station a week ago, but the missile missed and blew up in the desert. It was the fourth attack against U.S. troops or American interests near Kandahar in the past month. The owners of the Arianna gas station speculated opposing business interests could have been responsible for the blasts. The Pakistani drivers of seven tanker trucks parked at the gas station were taken into custody for questioning at the base and released at noon. The truckers, who had driven across the border from the Pakistani city of Quetta, were carrying fuel from the Pakistani State Oil Company. "It was a loud noise, I couldn't hear for five or 10 minutes. I'm glad the fuel did not explode," said driver Bali Ustad, 26. He said the drivers were sleeping in their trucks when the first explosion occurred around 1:30 a.m. The second went off 15 minutes later. The truckers said they were angry that U.S. military officials had bound, hooded and detained them for questioning. "All night they questioned us. We were sleeping inside the truck. In the night someone came and put the bomb," Ustad said. "If we put the bomb, why should we take the risk when we are sleeping inside?" Both bombs were hidden alongside the spare tires of two trucks parked at the gas station, used as a rest stop by drivers waiting to enter the base. Because of tight security - including bomb sniffing dogs - only a few trucks enter Kandahar airport during the day, and the rest wait at the station and its adjoining restaurant. Earlier this month, a botched June 4 rocket attack against the air base was carried out from a location near the gas station. Four rockets were fired at the airfield's runway. The closest landed 1 from the base. A bomb exploded June 1 outside the palace of provincial governor Gul Agha, along a road normally used by U.S. special forces staying at the governor's compound. U.S. Army reservists involved in humanitarian projects also work out of the complex. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytact-06.17.02-14:58:42-27242