Afghan fuel station cost $43m, US military report says

The US Department of Defense has spent $43m (£28m) on a vehicle fuelling station in Afghanistan, according to published oversight report.

The project was intended to show how Afghanistan's natural gas reserves could be used as an alternative to expensive petroleum imports.

However, it cost more than 140 times that of a similar project in neighbouring Pakistan.

The highly critical report was published by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, a group overseeing the use of the approximately $110bn the US has spent in Afghanistan since 2002.

"It's an outrageous waste of money that raises suspicions that there is something more there than just stupidity. There may be fraud. There may be corruption," said John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

However  Mr Sopko said he intended to continue investigating to see whether any conduct was "criminal in nature".