By KUNA
Kabul : The Afghan government Sunday reported detaining a senior Taliban commander and killing more than a dozen militants in separate raids and operations.
This came in two separate statements released by the Ministry of Defence and by the Ministry of Interior in Kabul this morning.
An Interior Ministry statement said senior Taliban leader Abdul Jabbar was arrested by police during a raid in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.
Jabbar is believed to be the deputy of another Taliban leader, Mansoor Dadullah, who was captured by Pakistani security forces while crossing into that country about a month back.
The Ministry of Defence meanwhile said the Afghan National Army (ANA) and NATO forces had killed at least 15 Taliban in separate raids in the same southern region.
The statement said Afghan and NATO forces conducted raids in Zerai district of Kandahar province, an insurgency hotbed, and killed the militants. “All those killed were involved in terrorist activities,” it added.
Taliban militants or locals could not be reached so far for comment.
There were incidents earlier when the Afghan government and NATO troops made claims of killing Taliban which were countered by statements by the locals saying all those killed were civilians.
Identities of those killed in these specific incidents in Zerai are yet to be ascertained by an independent source.