FARAH: A 20-member rebel group has joined the peace process in western Farah province, an official said on Thursday.
Led by Mullah Nooruddin, the fighters had been active in Bakwah, Bala Baluk and Gulistan districts, said Mohammad Ayubi, the provincial peace council chief.
The surrender came as a result of efforts by National Directorate of Security (NDS) operatives, he said, adding surrendering men turned in 20 different weapons.
Mullah Nooruddin said:” We decided to join the reconciliation programme after realising that the militancy is benefiting foreign countries”.
The intelligence department director, Abdul Hamid Balkhi, said negotiations were ongoing with another 20 militant groups and 4 groups have so far joined the reconciliation efforts. “Sixteen other groups of insurgents are to join the peace process soon,” he claimed.
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HERAT: Four insurgents and two policemen were killed and another three people wounded in separate incidents of violence in western Herat province on Thursday, an official said.
The first incident took place when border police clashed with insurgents near the Turkmenistan border. Mullah Saeed, a notorious rebel commander, was among five fighters killed in the clash, deputy police chief, Toryali Halimyar, said.
The police suffered no casualties in the clash that erupted in Rabat-i-Sangi district on Wednesday, he said. The incident came two weeks after the security responsibly for the district was transferred to Afghan forces.
Elsewhere in the province, two policemen were killed and a third wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the Shindand district on Thursday, police spokesman, Noor Khan Nekzad, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
Another two policemen were wounded in a similar incident in the same district, he said, adding the wounded policemen were taken to a hospital.
Meanwhile, intelligence operatives in central Parwan arrested six suspects after a clash, the governor’s spokesman, Roshan Khalid, said. “Two Taliban group leaders are among the detainees,” he said.
Two intelligent operatives were also wounded during the clash. One of the detained rebel leaders was identified as Naqibullah, a resident of Obidi area on the outskirts of Charikar, the provincial capital.
–Ahmad Quraishi & Farid Tanha
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JAWZJAN: Five local policemen had rejoined the Taliban fighters in the Darz Aab district of northern Jawzjan province, an official said on Thursday.
The individuals rejoined their former colleagues on Wednesday night, the town’s acting administrative head, told Pajhwok Afghan News. Matiullah said the joining would have no negative impact on the area security.
Resident Abdul Qayum said the four men had joined the peace process three months ago and were recruited into local police force, but they once again switched sides.
A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, confirmed the four had rejoined the movement.
About 190 local policemen are maintaining security in Darz Aab and Qush Tapa districts over the past four months.
–Tamkin
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KABUL: Seventeen insurgents were arrested and a large amount of weapons and drugs confiscated during a string of joint operations in different provinces over the past 24 hours, defence and interior ministries said on Thursday.
The operations involving Afghan and NATO-led troops were conducted in Zabul, Ghazni and Kandahar provinces.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) in a statement said 17 rebels were detained and six AK-47 assault rifles, four pistols, nine different kinds of weapons, 195 kilograms of explosives, more than four tonnes of hashish, three hand-grenades, two binoculars, as many vehicles and motorbikes were seized during the operations.
Additionally, 11 different kinds of mines, six explosives-filled jerry cans and 14 mortar shells were found in Nangarhar, Kapisa, Kandahar, Logar, Khost and Herat provinces.
In a separate statement, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said 19 jerry cans of explosives, one tonne of explosives powder, one pressure cooker, six gas cylinders and one explosive-rigged motorcycle were confiscated in the Bakwa district of Farah province.
Moreover, the Afghan National Army (ANA) captured five sacks of explosives, four anti-personnel mines, three jerry cans of explosives, two pressure cookers, six gas cylinders and two BM1 shells during operations in Panjwai and Barak-i-Barak districts of Kandahar and Logar province, the ministry said.
An ANA soldier sustained minor injuries during the operations, it concluded.
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KAPISA: One civilian was killed and six others injured following a roadside bomb explosion in central Kapisa province, an official said on Thursday.
The blast took place late Wednesday in the Najrab district of the province, Ata Mohammad Nazari, district police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
He said the injured were evacuated to hospital, but had no information about their conditions. Shah Aghasi, a witness said the wounded people were taken to hospital by the local people, adding some of them were in critical condition.
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LOGAR: Four Afghan prisoners held at the US troops-run Bagram detention facility in central Parwan province were released to authorities in Logar province, an official said on Thursday.
The four had been arrested on the charges of links with the insurgents. They were released from the Bagram jail after an investigation found they had no role in criminal activities, deputy Logar governor, Shujauddin Shuja, told a ceremony welcoming the released men.
Fazal Rabbi, one of the released men, said he was arrested 10 months back in Pul-i-Alam, the provincial capital, during a raid on his house by foreign troops.
He said he was arrested for alleged links to the Taliban while he had no connection with any group.
He said his interrogators did not beat him, but mentally pressurised during interrogation. “The soldiers would wake me up late in the night and they would switch on radio with a high sound,” he said.
Syed Masroor, brother of a released person, asked foreign soldiers to carry out raids and operations in cooperation with local officials in order to avoid the arrest of an innocent.
As many as 150 residents of Logar are languishing in the Bagram detention centre on different charges, an Afghan official at the jail said. As many as 100 residents of Logar have so far been released from the centre over the past nine months.
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SAR-I-PUL: The Taliban kidnapped three employees, including two engineers, of a private telecommunication company in northern Sar-i-Pul province, an official said on Thursday.
The Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) workers were abducted in the Syedabad area on the outskirts of Sar-i-Pul city late on Wednesday evening, Col. Jahangir, the deputy police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News.
The three, including two engineers and a driver, were on their way to Jawzjan province when Taliban fighters interceopted their vehicle. Security forces had launched a search operatioon to rescue the workers, the police official said.
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