Massive fire ripping through US military base in Afghanistan after Taliban rocket strike

Fighters with Afghanistan’s Taliban militia stand with their weapons in Ahmad Aba district on the outskirts of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, on July 18, 2017. (AFP)

DUBAI: A massive blaze was ripping through an American forward operating base in Afghanistan on Tuesday after a Taliban rocket strike, the independent news agency Pajhwok Afghan News reported.
According to the report an oil reservoir in the base was “engulfed in fire” after a rocket hit the base, in Pul-i-Alam, the capital of central Logar province.
Local officials have said the entire US forces camp was engulfed in flames, suggesting it was out of control.
The provincial governor’s spokesman, Saleem Saleh, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the Taliban attacked the US forces’ oil reservoir in Altaimor locality at around 2 p.m. local time.
Saleh said efforts were underway to control the blaze, but added that it “would be difficult to douse the fire soon.”