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04/04/2006:

"Taliban set ablaze U.S. military base-bound oil tankers in S. Afghanistan"

Suspected Taliban-linked militants set on fire 10 oil tankers carrying fuel to U.S. military base in south Afghanistan Saturday, a local official said Sunday.

"Taliban militants attacked a logistic convoy in Grishk district of Helmand province yesterday at noon and set ablaze 10 petrol tankers in Haiderabad area," acting district police chief Amanullah Khan told Xinhua.

Contingents of troops, he said had been sent to the area but the militants fled away to the nearby mountains.

However, he confirmed that the drivers of the ill-fated oil tankers are safe.

Meantime, Taliban's purported spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi accepted responsibility for the incident and added the Taliban set free the drivers after they committed not to cooperate with the U. S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Helmand, a hotbed of Taliban in south Afghanistan, has been the scene of increasing insurgency over the past two weeks during which around 50 people including one American and one Canadian soldiers and more than 30 militants have lost their lives in conflicts.

Taliban-led insurgency has claimed the lives of over 200 people since the beginning of 2006.
peopledaily.com.cn