4 Taliban bomb makers detained in S. Afghanistan

Kabul, Aug. 7 (Xinhua-ANI): Four Taliban expert bomb makers were detained by the Afghan police in the country's southern province of Helmand, a senior provincial police official said Tuesday.

"Afghan National Police (ANP) during a special operation detained four Taliban bomb makers in Shorshorak area of Nawa district late Monday," police official Colonel Abdul Karim Hamidi told reporters.

"The detained bomb makers constructed roadside bombs or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) for attacks against Afghan and coalition troops and trained other insurgents in constructing IEDs to target security forces in the province," the police official added.

Three IEDs, a pistol, a handful of explosive materials and two motorcycles were also found in their possession, Hamidi said.

Afghan Taliban has launched massive IED attacks against ISAF and Afghan national security force in recent years. Earlier Tuesday, eight government employees were killed and four others injured when an IED detonated near a bus in Paghman district in western part of capital Kabul.

The Taliban insurgents, who have been waging more than a decade- long insurgency, launched an annual spring offensive starting from May 3 to target Afghan forces as well as U.S. and NATO troops across the country.

The insurgent group has yet to confirm the capture of its four bomb experts. (Xinhua-ANI)