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Men from `Dynamite Tanker' in Custody
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
The Bangkok Post

“It is not entirely certain the explosives were intended for use at Bagram,” the Isaf spokesman said. “This is under investigation by the Afghan police.” The truck had been stopped following intelligence reports received by Isaf up to 10 days before its arrival in Kabul. “We were unable to act on these reports until the vehicle entered our area of jurisdiction,” Isaf said.

Two Pakistani men are in custody in Afghanistan after dynamite was found on their fully-loaded fuel tanker bound for a United States airbase, an international security force spokesman said yesterday.

“The tanker came from Pakistan and the drivers are being held while the situation is being investigated,” said International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) spokesman Maj Gordon Mackenzie.

Afghan government officials portrayed the incident as an extortion attempt by local police.

Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak said the explosives had been planted by an officer at a checkpoint in eastern Kabul to blackmail the vehicle's driver. He said the tanker had never created any real danger.

But another Isaf spokesman said the tanker had sparked a major alarm.

“It was a tanker containing 44,000 litres of aviation fuel and explosives. As far as we're concerned, whatever the circumstances, that is a very real threat. It's a bomb,” he said.
(More: BangkokPost.com News Source)
2002 © The Bangkok Post.

Dan