Afghan security forces arrested nine people suspected of plotting attacks including two Pakistanis preparing to become suicide bombers, a provincial governor said today. ''They were captured in three separate raids over the past 48 hours in Kandahar,'' the restive southern province's governor, Assadullah Khalid, told a news conference.Seven of the suspects, who were believed to be working for the Taliban and al Qaeda, were Afghan and two were Pakistanis preparing to become suicide bombers, he said. The two had identified themselves as Pakistanis, he said.
A vehicle rigged up as a car bomb was seized in one of the raids, Khalid said. He did not identify any of the suspects and declined to give further details.
This month Khalid accused neighbouring Pakistan of training and equipping Taliban suicide bombers. Pakistan, an important ally in the US-led war on terrorism, rejects accusations that Afghan insurgents get help on the Pakistani side of the porous border.