Militants loyal to the Taliban reportedly attacked a convoy of 100 fuel tanks near the Pakistani border and destroyed 40 of them on Monday. Seventy people who had gathered in a nearby field were wounded in the attacks, officials said.

The pro-Taliban militants attacked near the Torkham border crossing where the convoy was waiting to deliver the fuel to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The U.S.-led coalition forces receive much of their fuel via Pakistan.

The militants hit at about 2000 local time on Sunday. Two explosion were heard in an area were at least 100 fuel tanks were parked. The trucks were supposed to spend the night there and then cross the border to deliver the fuel in Afghanistan.

The report shows that a truck carrying oil exploded and the people gathered there were showered with burning oil. At least 70 people were injured and about 50 shops were also destroyed on both sides of the border, officials said.

Another attack took place in the northern Jowzjan province, where four militants on two motorbikes attacked a group of workers in the district of Fayzabad. The mine clearance workers were on their way back to their base camp in the district of Oqacah

The militants killed five and wounded seven workers. It is not sure yet who was behind the attacks due to the fact that the Taliban have little influence in the northern regions of Afghanistan.

The attackers fired hundreds of bullets from their AK47's and heavy machine guns, said Farib Elmi, the Deputy Director of the Afghan Technical Consultants group, who had contracted the workers.

"The area is safe according to our information and there have been no incidents like this before. This is the first case we have seen," Mr Elmi said.