KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Afghan security forces recently discovered a truck bomb comprised of about 61,500 pounds of explosives, military officials say.
Army Col. Christopher Garver, a spokesman for coalition forces, said the bomb was found Oct. 14 when the truck was stopped in Gardez, Afghanistan, ABC News reported Wednesday.
A Defense Department official said the bomb was believed to be one of the largest truck bombs ever built.
Garver said such bombs, known as a "vehicle-borne improvised explosive device," were "one of the most significant threats to everyone in Afghanistan."
Afghan officials said the driver of the truck, a Pakistani, set off a grenade in the cab of the truck. He was taken a hospital where he killed himself by setting off a suicide vest.
The explosives were hidden under stacks of wood.
By comparison, the truck bomb that all but razed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 people in 1995 weighed less than 5,000 pounds.
