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Explosives found in potato haul

April 21, 2012

Afghan forces have arrested five men with 10 tons of explosives. The insurgents had been reportedly planning massive attacks in Kabul.

https://p.dw.com/p/14iq6

The men, three Pakistanis and two Afghans, were apprehended in Kabul, a government spokesman told reporters on Saturday. The explosives were in 400 sacks hidden underneath potatoes in the back of a truck. They had been transported from Pakistan.

"If this amount of explosives had been used, it could have caused large-scale bloodshed," National Directorate of Security spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri said at a news conference in the capital.

Tahiri said the explosives were discovered on April 13, two days before Kabul and three other Afghan cities were hit by coordinated attacks that left numerous people dead.

He did not indicate when the men were arrested, but said they belonged to the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban.

The Afghan Taliban had claimed responsibility for last week's attacks and warned that it had planned similar ones for the coming months.

ncy/sb (Reuters, AP, AFP)