KABUL, Sept 18: Two Pakistani men are in custody in Afghanistan after dynamite was found on their fully-loaded fuel tanker bound for a US air base, an international security force spokesman said Wednesday.

“The tanker came from Pakistan and the drivers are being held while the situation is being investigated,” said International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesman Major Gordon Mackenzie.

Afghan government officials portrayed the incident as an extortion attempt by local police.

Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak told AFP the explosives had been planted by an officer manning a checkpoint in eastern Kabul to blackmail the vehicle’s driver. He said the tanker had never created any real danger. But Squadron Leader Terry Hay, another ISAF spokesman, said the tanker had sparked a major alarm.

“It was a tanker containing 44,000 litres of aviation fuel and explosives. As far as we’re concerned, whatever the circumstances, that is a very real threat. A bomb,” he said.

According to Mackenzie, nine sticks of dynamite, one primed for explosion, were discovered during a search of the truck. Documents found in the vehicle indicated it was bound for Bagram Air Base north of the city.—AFP