Huge blast in Afghan city, 25 dead

At least 25 people were killed and 23 wounded when a fuel tank exploded in Afghanistan's western Herat province today following a welding accident, provincial authorities and state television reported. The blast ripped through the centre of a small village along a highway in remote Shindand district not far from a US military base, said Ghulam Mohammad Masoan, the spokesperson for the provincial governor.

"It was an accident," he told Reuters. "A gas truck had some problem and the driver tried to weld it. That set off an explosion that triggered another explosion."

State-owned Kabul TV said the death toll was at least 25, while Masoan said "between 50 and 100 people have been killed and wounded" without giving a breakdown of the number dead. Last month President Hamid Karzai sent 1 500 troops to the city of Herat, capital of the province, after fierce fighting sparked by the killing of the powerful provincial governor's son. - Reuters