Afghan authorities have arrested a Taliban official suspected of masterminding anti-government strikes as fresh attacks claimed the lives of up to eleven soldiers. Muhammad Yunus, former chief of the ousted Taliban's customs department at Kabul airport, has been handed over to US forces. Yunus was captured from his home in Nawzad district in the southern province of Helmand during a raid on Saturday, Helmand's intelligence chief, Dad Muhammad Khan, said. "We suspect that Yunus has been leading the attacks in various parts of Helmand. But we have to prove that and it is too early to say anything as the Americans have not finished questioning him." The arrest came amid continuing clashes in southern Afghanistan. Up to nine government troops died when they were attacked at a security post northeast of Kandahar. The ambush, by about 20 Taliban fighters, took the government troops by surprise and they were unable to react, said Fazaluddin Agha, chief of administration in the nearby district of Spin Boldak. Government sources put the toll at five but Taliban commander Mulla Rahmatullah told Reuters that all nine Afghan soldiers at the post were killed.
| "Yup. Wiped 'em out. There's none left. They're all dead now." |
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