Afghans say suspected suicide bombers from Pak

Spin Boldak (Afghanistan), Jan 18: Afghan police have arrested three men in an explosives-laden car entering from neighbouring Pakistan, accusing them of planning suicide bomb attacks, a security official said today.

Suicide bombings were almost unknown in Afghanistan until 2005 but the number of attacks surged to 139 last year, according to US military figures, as part of a sharply intensified Taliban insurgency.

Police did not identify the three men, arrested in the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak yesterday, or give their nationality, but said they had confessed to being recruited and trained in Pakistan.

''They told us that they have centres in Pakistan, where people are recruited and trained as suicide bombers,'' Mohammad Anway, an Afghan border security official, told Reuters.

''The car was full of explosives and they had plans to distribute some of the material to their men and carry out attacks in Kandahar,'' he said, referring to the nearby southern city which is a hub for NATO operations.

Afghan officials frequently say suicide bombers are being recruited and trained in Pakistan.

Pakistan was the main backer of the Taliban during the 1990s but officially stopped helping them after the September 11 attacks, when it joined the US-led war on terrorism.

But while Pakistan has arrested or killed hundreds of al Qaeda members, Afghanistan and some of its allies say it has failed to take effective action against Taliban leaders, their networks and sanctuaries.

REUTERS

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