Security forces arrested three people after uncovering a cache of weapons and explosives in Afghanistan's capital Kabul and foreign peacekeepers defused two bombs near the bases of foreign troops, officials said on Sunday. The three were detained by Afghan security forces with backup from the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF spokesman Commander Chris Henderson told a news briefing. Detonators were found with the explosives, he said, adding that he had no information on the affiliation of the suspects.
On Saturday, German ISAF bomb disposal specialists defused two improvised bombs with attached fuses, which a civilian found on Kabul's Jalalabad Road, where several peacekeeper bases are located. "Had they gone off, they could have indiscriminately killed innocent Afghan men women and children," Henderson said. The discoveries underscored the continuing risk of Islamic militant violence in the Afghan capital despite patrols by more than 6,000 foreign peacekeepers two and a half years after U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban. Last month authorities found a bomb factory with material for up to 20 sophisticated devices in the centre of the city, which is still considered one of the safest parts of the country despite several bomb attacks since the Taliban fell in late 2001. In the worst attack, in March 2002, 26 civilians were killed and more than 150 wounded in a blast at a busy intersection. |