KABUL, Afghanistan — Insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns into a convoy carrying goods to the Afghan capital on Monday, killing three drivers and wounding two others, an official said.
Two of the container trucks caught fire and burned from the grenade blasts at about 2:30 a.m. on the main highway about 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of Kabul, said Sarhadi Zwak, spokesman for Laghman province where the attack took place.
It was unclear if the trucks were carrying supplies for the U.S.-led military coalition or if they had commercial goods, Zwak said, but he added that no international troops or military vehicles were in the convoy. He said the drivers were Afghan.
Attacks on supply trucks coming to Kabul are relatively common, as Taliban and other militants seek to disrupt both flow of the military goods and sow fear among the population.
The latest attack comes in a period of intense violence, with the Taliban targeting police and civilian officials and attacking government positions around the country as Afghan police and army prepare to officially take over full responsibility for security from international troops.
Insurgents are also waging a campaign of assassinations of government officials. On Monday, the police chief of the southern province of Helmand survived a suicide car bomb attack on his convoy that wounded three officers.
Police Chief Mohammad Nabi Elham sustained only minor injuries when the car bomber struck as he was on his way to his office at about 7 a.m.
Broken glass and the charred remains of the bomber's car were strewn in a main road in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah after the attack. The force of the blast tore off the door of Elham's vehicle. Three police officers traveling in the convoy were wounded, provincial spokesman Ummar Zawaq said.
