KHOST, Afghanistan - Fourteen Taleban rebels linked to a commander who is on a US list of most wanted militants have surrendered as part of an Afghan government amnesty, a governor said on Wednesday. The group surrendered in troubled Paktika province south of Kabul on Wednesday and promised to give up a secret stash of weapons and to support the government, provincial governor Mohammed Gulab Mangal told AFP. âFourteen Taleban who were actively fighting the government surrendered and joined us today,â the governor said.The rebels who gave themselves up were linked to Jalaludin Haqani, a powerful Taleban commander and the regimeâs former minister of frontiers and tribal affairs, officials said. Haqani has a five-million-dollar price on his head on a list of Al-Qaeda and other militants wanted by the United States since the September 11 attacks and the fall of the Taleban in late 2001. âThey said they were missioned in Pakistan to torch schools, attack government institutions and coalition forces and since they did not want to destroy their country they gave up fighting,â said the governor.
Dozens of former Taleban and other militants have surrendered under the amnesty scheme since it was offered by President Hamid Karzai in November. Earlier this year 18 militant commanders linked to warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who is also wanted by the US, joined the governmentâs side. Officials are trumpeting the amnesty programâs successes amid a renewed, post-winter Taleban campaign of violence against US and Afghan targets.