Washington, Oct.18 (ANI): The US Defense Department has revealed that it is spending a whopping 400 dollars for a gallon of gas in Afghanistan, which is one of the reasons why the cost of the ‘war on terror’ in the region has increased tremendously.

“The fuel starts out priced at 2.78 dollars per gallon but a lot of other factors come into play before it reaches its destination,” Deputy Director of Operations at the Defense Energy Support Center, Mark Iden said.

According to officials, the Pentagon has recently provided the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee the statistic on fuel to explain why the United States spends one billion dollars for every thousand soldiers in Afghanistan.

The prime reason why the cost of the fuel is so high is that it does not reaches the troops stationed in Afghanistan directly.

The gas is shipped to Karachi in Pakistan, sent to Afghanistan by truck, distributed to storage depots and then to forward operating bases. Helicopters carrying bladders of fuel are used for some remote bases, which is the most expensive means of transport, The UPI reported.

US politicians have also expressed concerns over the issue.

“It is a number that we were not aware of and it is worrisome. When I heard that figure from the Defense Department, we started looking into it,” said Republican Senator John Murtha. (ANI)