3 Pakistanis, 2 Afghans detained with 10,000kg explosives in Kabul

By Reuters
Published: April 21, 2012

Afghan official says the detained men had received training from the Pakistani Taliban.

KABUL: Afghan security forces have detained five insurgents in Kabul, with 10,000 kilograms of explosives they intended to use in a massive attack on crowded areas in the capital, an Afghan intelligence spokesman said on Saturday.

“If this amount of explosives had been used, it could have caused large-scale bloodshed,” National Directorate of Security spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri told a news conference.

The explosives were found stuffed into 400 bags and hidden under piles of potatoes in the back of a truck on the city outskirts.

“Three Pakistani terrorists and two of their Afghan collaborators who placed the explosives under bags of potatoes in truck were caught,” said Tahiri.

The men, he said, had received training from members of the Pakistani Taliban, who have strong links with the Afghan Taliban.

Afghan officials have long accused Pakistan of using insurgent groups like the Afghan Taliban as proxies in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s government denies supporting or giving sanctuary to insurgents on its territory.

Insurgents this week launched a coordinated assault on four provinces, targeting diplomatic and government areas of Kabul with rockets and gunfire in what they said was retaliation for abuses of Afghans by US soldiers.

The attacks showed the insurgency’s resilience nearly 11 years since the Afghan Taliban were toppled.

The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks and said it planned similar assaults in coming months.