A bomb planted by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan has destroyed 22 Nato fuel tankers carrying supplies to coalition forces. The vehicles were hit by a pre-dawn explosion which triggered a huge fire that engulfed them in flames.

The trucks headed from Uzbekistan towards Nato forces in the south. The trucks were parked overnight in Samangan province. An intelligence official said the device was attached under one of the trucks, which were parked close together. In a statement, the Taliban said they carried out the attack. Such an attack is the first of its kind in northern Afghanistan.

The trucks were attacked in the same province where The well-known Afghan politician Ahmad Khan Samangani was killed in a suicide attack on 14^th July  while attending his daughter's wedding in the same province. NATO has relied heavily on overland supplies from Central Asia since last November when Pakistan banned NATO convoys after US airstrikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on the Afghan border.