Taliban destroys NATO trucks in Afghanistan

KABUL -- The Taliban detonated a bomb on a fuel tanker yesterday and opened fire on other NATO supply trucks, destroying 22 vehicles loaded with fuel and other goods for U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber killed three Afghan soldiers at a checkpoint in the east, while militants killed nine more government troops in an ambush in the south. Three NATO service members were killed in insurgent attacks.

The violence comes as Afghan forces are taking charge of security in more areas across the country ahead of the planned withdrawal of the U.S.-led coalition's combat forces by the end of 2014. The insurgents, to show they remain a resilient force, are conducting targeted attacks, even in relatively peaceful parts of the country.

One of the places is Samangan province in the north, where the Taliban said they attacked NATO supply trucks parked overnight in the Rabatak area.

"We put explosives on a fuel tanker. When it exploded, we fired on the trucks," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Associated Press by telephone.

Sidiq Azizi, a spokesman for the province, said many tankers and semitrailers caught fire after the bomb went off around 2 a.m.

"There was a big boom," Azizi said. "It's possible that is was a magnetic bomb from insurgents. We are investigating."

The tankers in the convoy were transporting fuel south toward the Afghan capital, Kabul, from neighboring Uzbekistan to the north.

Earlier this week, militants destroyed three NATO supply trucks in Sayd Abad district of Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan.

Convoy traffic in the east has increased since Pakistan reopened its border crossings about two weeks ago. Islamabad blocked NATO supply trucks for seven months in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.