Afghanistan: Explosives-laden tanker was headed to U.S. base

A fuel tanker seized over the weekend with sticks of dynamite attached to it was headed to Bagram Air Base, the headquarters of the U.S. military in Afghanistan, a peacekeeping spokesman said Tuesday.

The truck was filled with aviation fuel when it was stopped Saturday by Afghan soldiers and international peacekeepers at a checkpoint in southern Kabul, said Squadron Leader Terry Hay, a spokesman for the multinational force.

Two men in the truck were arrested, Hay said.

Security services had been on the lookout for the tanker after receiving a tip a week before that it might be passing through the Afghan capital.

“It was headed to Bagram, but it was intercepted here in Kabul on its way through,” Hay said. “It was a job well done. It might have been a bloody mess otherwise.”

New York: Two terror-cell suspects believed to be in Yemen

Two remaining members of a suspected al-Qaida-trained terror cell in western New York are believed to be in Yemen, an FBI special agent said Tuesday.

When they were in western New York, the suspects attended lectures by a “religious group” before going overseas where they were lectured by Osama bin Laden, said FBI Special Agent Peter, who heads the FBI’s Buffalo office.

Five members of the cell were arrested last week.

The sixth, 22, a Yemeni-born American arrested in Bahrain last week, was charged Monday in federal court with conspiring to provide support or resources to foreign terrorists.

Afghanistan: Rockets fired at U.S., U.N. posts

Rockets were fired Tuesday near U.S. forces and a U.N. compound in separate areas of the country, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

An Afghan working for the United Nations was seriously injured when two rockets struck the offices of the U.N. children’s fund UNICEF in the eastern city of Jalalabad. Police Chief Haji Ajab Shah blamed the attack on Taliban or al-Qaida fugitives.

One rocket was fired at a U.S. position in the eastern city of Asadabad but missed, U.S. military spokesman Col. Roger King said. Another landed about 800 yards from a U.S. position in the southeastern town of Shkin in Paktika province along the Pakistani border, King added.

U.S. officials said they didn’t know who fired either rocket, but Taliban and al-Qaida remnants are active in both areas.

Washington, D.C.: House bill gives VA anti-terrorism role

Legislation approved Tuesday by the House would direct the Veterans Affairs Department to establish four health care centers to specialize in emergency preparedness for terror attacks.

The centers would offer training for medical responders to attacks, develop systems for detecting and diagnosing biological, radiological and chemical agents and treat potential victims of terrorism.

The legislation approves the spending of $100 million over five years to set up the centers, and no money would come out of the budget for veterans’ health care. Under a compromise worked out with the Senate, which is expected to pass the bill quickly and send it to the president for his signature, first responders and other victims of terror attacks could receive emergency treatment at VA facilities.