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4 killed in attack on tanker depot in Afghanistan

Militants attacked a fuel tanker depot Monday outside the main international military base in southern Afghanistan, killing four people, officials said.
Image:
In this night exposure photograph, Afghan security forces and US soldiers conduct the final exercises before boarding a Chinook military helicopter at the Forward Operating Base Pasab in Zahri district, Kandahar, Afghanistan late Sunday prior to a ground and air assault operation in Maiwand district against Taliban insurgents. Romeo Gacad / AFP - Getty Images
/ Source: The Associated Press

Militants attacked a fuel tanker depot Monday outside the main international military base in southern Afghanistan, killing four people, officials said.

The assailants set off explosives that were packed in a minibus at the entrance of a compound operated by international contractor Supreme Group, according from a statement from the Kandahar governor's office. The compound is outside of Kandahar Air Field — the base of NATO and U.S. operations in the south.

Four private guards were killed in the fighting, said Salim Ahsas, the southern region police chief.

A call to Supreme Group seeking comment went unanswered.

The compound is used by fuel tankers that supply NATO bases, said Ahmadullah Niaz, who works in the compound.

It was the day's second violent clash. Early Monday, insurgents attacked a district government center in eastern Afghanistan, sparking a gun battle that lasted for hours and left a police officer and four militants dead.

The attack in Qarabagh district of Ghazni province lasted several hours before militants retreated, said Ghazni provincial Police Chief Gen. Zirawer Zahid.

The fighting comes the day after six suicide bombers attacked a governor's security meeting in a town near the country's capital. Twenty-two people were killed.