Thirty midlevel Taliban have turned themselves in to coalition forces this year, Maj Gen Eric Olson, a top US commander said on Monday, predicting more will follow when the Afghan government announces a reconciliation programme for the followers of the hardline militia. Olson, the No 2 US commander in Afghanistan, did not identify the insurgents and said the coalition had no specific information on the whereabouts of top-level Taliban, including the supreme leader of the ousted Islamist regime, Mulla Omar. The 30 Taliban had "essentially turned themselves in" at coalition bases in the eastern province of Khost and the southern province of Kandahar during the past two months and had been handed over to Afghan authorities for reintegration into society. None had been detained, and one was now serving as a policeman, Olson said. He forecast more Taliban fighters to join them once the government of President Hamid Karzai formally announced a reconciliation programme "soon".