Convoy Breaks Blockade, Gets to Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan — A convoy carrying much-needed food and fuel to Kabul broke through a guerrilla blockade along a major supply route Friday.

The convoy of trucks and tanks pushed down the Salang Highway running south from the Soviet border to the Afghan capital. The strategic road, 260 miles long, has been closed for a week by Muslim insurgents.

Helicopter gunships flew low over the convoy and armored cars and tanks fired at guerrilla positions in a bid to clear the vital highway. Columns of smoke mushroomed in the sky about 12 miles from Kabul.

Afghan rebels ambushed the convoy, setting a number of the trucks on fire, drivers said. Despite heavy fighting, at least 90 trucks got through the rebel blockade and reached the Afghan capital

Fighting was still going on four hours after the first trucks arrived in the capital, making it impossible for the rest to get there Friday as the helicopter gunships do not escort them after dark.

The convoy was the first to arrive since the rebels blocked the vital route more than a week ago.

The last convoy arrived April 6, when an explosion ripped through an oil depot in Kabul, destroying 12 of the 70 fuel trucks that had completed that journey.