HELMAND: A Taliban intelligence agent operating in the Kajaki district was among four suspects arrested in southern Helmand province, an official said on Wednesday.
A National Directorate of Security (NDS Abdul Hameed, the Taliban spy, and three other militants were arrested in Greshk and Nad Ali districts during operations last week.
Another militant named Habibullah, involved in a series of terrorist acts, was arrested in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, the source said. Weapons, ammunitions, explosives and vehicles were seized over the past week, he added.
–Zainullah Stanikzai
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ISLAMABAD: A remotely triggered bomb struck a vehicle, killing seven passengers in the Khyber tribal region of Pakistan, an official said on Wednesday.
The bombing took place at about 9:00am in the Jamrud sub-district, Esmatullah, a political administration official, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Besides the seven killed, three passengers suffered injuries and were rushed to hospital.
They are said to be in stable condition. Witness Qestmat Afridi said the powerful blast jolted the whole area and the passenger vehicle was completely destroyed.
The van was carrying 15 men from Khurrakai village to Jamrud when it was hit.
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KABUL: Officials said on Wednesday 540 people, including 28 foreigners, were arrested on different charges at the Kabul International Airport last year.
Talking to Pajhwok Afghan News, border police chief Brig. Gen. Mohammad Juma Adil said 498 of the suspects had been held for trying to travel abroad on fake passports and visas.
Another 30 were detained on charges of transferring money and narcotics, he said, adding police also seized $350,000 (17.4 million afghanis) that were being transferred to the United Arab Emirates.
The police chief said 12 youth trying to flee homes had also been arrested. The detainees include men, women and children, and their cases have been referred to the authorities concerned.
The Cabinet recently said no one was allowed to transfer more than $20,000 and the same amount of jewelry to a foreign country, instead the money should be transferred through banks.
Da Afghanistan Bank officials say more than $4.6 billion have so far been transferred to foreign countries through airports and dry ports.
The border police chief said although smugglers used different techniques, police had been able to prevent smuggling. He said the border police had arrested 18 drug smugglers despite their inadequate strength.
—Khwaja Basir Ahmad
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KABUL: Three International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) soldiers have been killed over the past 24 hours in eastern and southern Afghanistan, the alliance said on Wednesday.
Two of the soldiers died in roadside bomb blasts in southern and eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, while a third was killed following an insurgent attack in the eastern part of the country the same day, ISAF said in separate statements.
In line with its policy, the NATO-led force neither revealed the nationalities of the soldiers, nor the exact locations of the incidents. Mostly American, British and Canadian soldiers are deployed to the restive south — the heartland of the Taliban insurgency — while US soldiers are stationed in the east.
With the latest fatalities, the death toll for foreign forces in Afghanistan this year has increased to 98, including 60 Americans. Last year, 566 international soldiers were killed in the country.
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KUNDUZ: A local policeman shot dead his commander and his bodyguard at a checkpoint in northern Kunduz Province, an official said on Wednesday.
“The shooting took place late Tuesday night in the Mirshikh area, on the outskirts of Chahardara District,” Abdul Momen Omarkhel, district administrative chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said the victim, Ahmad Zia and his bodyguard were killed while they were sleeping at their checkpoint and the killer had fled the scene.
Omarkhel said security personnel had launched a probe into the killings, but so far no breakthrough in the case.
However, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Ahmad Zia was killed along with his two bodyguards, by their fighter.
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NANGARHAR: Seventeen Taliban and a policeman were killed and another 16 people wounded in violence-related incidents in three provinces, officials said on Wednesday.
Eight insurgents were killed and 16 others wounded during an operation by Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers in Alasai and Tagab districts of central Kapisa province, a spokesman for the 201st Selab Military Corps said.
Col. Mohammad Noman Hatifi said the operation launched on last Saturday was aimed to drive insurgents from eight villages. Without giving details, he said added two foreign militants were among the guerrillas killed.
Tagab district chief, Hakim Akhundzada, confirmed the fatalities inflicted on the militants.
In Kandahar, officials said three roadside bomb planters were killed in the Timar Band area of Maiwand district. Bodies of the rebels were brought to the district centre.
In Zherai town, three fighters were killed in Sia Joi area late on Tuesday, the governor’s spokesman said, adding the militants had been unable to fight Afghan soldiers. Therefore, he added, they chose to plant roadside bombs.
In Helmand, three guerrillas were killed after they attacked officials carrying out a poppy eradication campaign in Greshk district, the governor’s spokesman said.
Daud Ahmadi added the attackers were killed in a NATO-led airstrike. Two policemen and a tractor driver were wounded in the insurgent attack.
Officials in northern Kunduz said an intelligence operative killed a policeman after a scuffle. The intelligence agent had allegedly seen the policeman with a woman in objectionable circumstances in his neighbourhood.
—Ahmad Bashir Naadem & Abdul Mueed Hashimi
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