The alleged connection to militants in Pakistan will likely step up the pressure on Islamabad, after a recent coordinated assault by insurgents on diplomatic and government areas in Kabul and elsewhere put the spotlight on the South Asian nation.

“It could have caused large-scale bloodshed,” National Directorate of Security (NDS) spokesman Shafiqullah Tahiri told a news conference.

“Three Pakistani terrorists and two of their Afghan collaborators who placed the explosives under bags of potatoes in a truck were caught.”

The 10 tons (22,046 lbs) of explosives were stuffed into 400 bags and hidden under piles of potatoes in the back of a Pakistan-registered truck on Kabul’s outskirts, said Tahiri.