Afghan forces arrest 95 ‘Taliban’

Staff Report

QUETTA: Forces from Kandahar and Hilmand provinces in Afghanistan have captured about 95 suspected Taliban fighters and activists of Gulbadin Hekmatyar’s Hizb-e-Islami during the last two days, sources told Daily Times on Sunday.

They said a few “important” leaders of the Taliban were among those arrested but the authorities refused to disclose their identities.

Spokesman for Hilmand province Hajji Wali Muhammad told reporters in Kandahar that about 35 suspected Taliban fighters were arrested last night in Kajaki area of the province. About 25 fighters were arrested in Spin Boldak in Kandahar province. Sources said another 20 were arrested in Kandahar and 15 were arrested from various parts of the two provinces. Mr Muhammad said other people had been arrested on suspicion and they would be released after a thorough investigation. Spin Boldak Administrator Fazal Din Agha told Daily Times that the Afghan forces had arrested around 25 suspected Taliban officials in the area during last few days. He said the Afghan forces remained active and were raiding suspected hideouts. He said most of the arrested suspects were “workers of the Taliban movement”. Mr Muhammad said the Hilmand Governor Mullah Sher Muhammad and Kandahar Governor Gul Agha Sherzoi had formed a joint force to arrest the men in the two provinces. He said the experiment was successful as the forces had completed the operation.

Senior Taliban leader vows jihad

SPIN BOLDAK: One of the most senior leaders of Afghanistan’s ousted Taliban regime vowed on Sunday to continue a jihad, against the United States and its Afghan allies. Mullah Mohammad Hasan Rehmani, former governor of the province of Kandahar and a close associate of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, was speaking to reporters by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location in his first interview since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. —Agencies

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