KABUL: Afghan government troops have captured a key Taliban commander after a brief shoot-out during a raid in southeastern Afghanistan, an official said yesterday.

Mullah Momen, who local authorities described as a “key Taliban organiser,” was arrested in Deh Chopan district of Zabul province on Tuesday, provincial government spokesman Gulab Shah Alikhil said.

He said dozens of Afghan troops raided Momen’s hiding place after a tip-off and arrested him.

“He was organising most of the Taliban attacks in the region,” Alikhil said, referring to the ongoing Taliban insurgency in south and southeastern regions of the country.

No one was hurt during the firefight and no other arrests were made, said the spokesman, without giving further details.

However, US-led military spokesperson, Lieutenant Cindy Moore said that coalition soldiers Tuesday engaged militants in the same area, arresting five people who were turned over to the local police.

“Coalition did engaged (militants) in Zabul - five individuals were turned over to Afghan National Police (ANP) by coalition,” she said.

She was unable to say if the incident was either the same or linked to the one in which Momen was seized. Alikhil said he was unaware of the five arrests by coalition forces.

Momen, who served as a military commander in eastern Afghanistan during the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, has been involved in anti-government activities since the fall of the hardline regime in late 2001, Alikhil said.

Afghanistan has witnessed a resurgence of Taliban attacks with the spring weather, with many attacks erupting in restive Zabul province.

An 18,000-strong US-led coalition force, made up mostly of Americans, is helping the Afghan authorities to hunt down remnants of the Islamic militants opposed to the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai. - AFP