 KABUL: Afghan forces in the country's restive south have arrested nine members of the ousted Taliban regime armed with assault rifles and explosives, officials said on Wednesday.
| "Goin' somewhere with them assault rifles and explosives, boyz?" |
The arrests came ahead of a surprise visit to Afghanistan by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday. The militants were detained during search operations by Afghanistan's fledgling US-trained national army on Monday and Tuesday in Kandahar province, the Taliban's former heartland. "Nine Taliban armed with AK-47s and explosives were arrested in a search operation by national army soldiers in Kandahar -- three on Tuesday and six on Monday," Defence Ministry spokesman General Muhammad Zahir Azimi told AFP. The three were seized in Kandahar's Shawali Kot district, some 430 kilometres south of Kabul, and the other six were arrested near Kandahar city, he added. Rumsfeld arrived in Kandahar early on Wednesday to meet US troops, who lead an 18,000-strong international coalition hunting still-active Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked militants. |