Over 150 Afghans Arrested In Pakistan
Richard Rittierodt - All Headline News Staff Writer Quetta, Pakistan (AHN) - With action authorized by the United States, Afghanistan and NATO, Pakistan arrested Taliban militants during overnight raids in the southwest province of Baluchistan. The Baluch government has so far arrested over 150 Afghans in the past two days. According to the police, most were Taliban fighters, even though some were being held for lack of proper documents. Salman Saeed, deputy chief of police in the province, said, "All of them are Taliban and veteran fighters, not seminary students. They are Afghans and were living here illegally." Saeed also stated that there would be more raids elsewhere in Baluchistan in the coming days. Mullah Hamdullah, a former commander of Taliban forces in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, was one of the individuals arrested on Monday evening during the raids. The Afghan government, the United States and NATO powers with forces in Afghanistan all want Pakistan to act more forcefully against the Taliban, particularly in the Baluch capital Quetta where many settled after they were ousted from power in 2001. The provincial government, which includes pro-Taliban Islamists, had ordered the crackdown as officials spoke of growing impatience with some Afghans in Quetta. Raziq Bugti, a spokesman for the provincial Baluchistan government, said, "the cabinet, last week, instructed the law |
