KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A series of attacks across Afghanistan have claimed the lives of three NATO service members and a dozen Afghan soldiers, while also taking a toll on a NATO supply convoy.
The Taliban say they set off a bomb that blew up a fuel tanker today, and then opened fire on other NATO supply trucks. The attack destroyed 22 vehicles that were loaded with fuel and other goods for the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan.
An official in the northern province where the attack took place says a number of tankers and semi-trailers caught fire after the bomb went off. Hours later, plumes of thick black smoke still billowed from the area.
Convoy traffic in eastern Afghanistan has increased since Pakistan reopened its border crossings about two weeks ago.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, 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 also killed in insurgent attacks. NATO says two were killed in a roadside bombing today, while another died yesterday in an attack in the south.