KABUL — Attackers set fire to about 400 fuel tanker trucks in a parking lot on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, witnesses said Saturday, prompting angry drivers to block a major highway to demand reimbursement for their losses.
Hundreds of other drivers stood by helplessly Saturday morning, unable to salvage any property as flames and smoke rose from the area and several fire engines rushed to the site.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants were targeting fuel tankers belonging to NATO forces.
‘‘We couldn’t tell if the attackers were Taliban or other people,’’ one of the drivers, 35-year-old Juma Gul, said. ‘‘They were dressed in uniforms; we couldn’t understand what was happening. They were shooting toward the drivers and they were setting the tankers on fire. The gunmen were targeting any of the drivers who wanted to return to their trucks.’’
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the trucks were set on fire late Friday and continued to burn through Saturday morning, but he did not confirm the cause or provide other details. The Interior Ministry said it has set up a team to investigate the incident.
Truck drivers later blocked the main highway between Kabul and the southern city of Kandahar to protest what they said was a slow response by the government and to demand reimbursement for their losses.
Violence has steadily increased in Afghanistan as the United States and its allies attempt to wind down their 13-year military mission here.
Both candidates in the country’s unresolved presidential election have promised to sign a security pact with the United States that would allow nearly 10,000 American troops to stay in the country beyond the end of this year to train Afghan security forces and perform counterterrorism operations.
The Afghan commission overseeing the election postponed the release of preliminary results until this week so it could audit the ballots from 1,930 polling stations that had at least 599 votes in 30 different provinces.
The European Union has called for an extensive investigation into allegations of irregularities in the election, citing indications of significant fraud.
In a separate development Saturday, a funeral was held in Peterborough, N.H., for a Marine killed last month by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
Lance Corporal Brandon Garabrant, of Greenfield, N.H., died along with two other Marines on June 20 in Helmand province. He was 19.
The funeral was held at ConVal High School in Peterborough, where Garabrant graduated last year. He was buried at the New Hampshire State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen.