 KABUL: Police killed a suspected Taliban commander and another insurgent in a three-hour gunbattle near Kabul airport, said Afghan officials on Tuesday. Also, two Afghans were killed and three wounded when an old mine exploded near a runway at Kabul airport, Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanekzai said. The men had been clearing the area of mines left over from the past quarter-century of fighting. In another development, police arrested three men near Kabul who were suspected to be plotting a suicide bombing in the city, said Stanekzai. Security agencies have warned in recent days of a plan for a massive bombing in the capital. The Taliban commander killed in the battle with police was Mullah Kabir, the militant chief in Helmand. Meanwhile, a NATO-led peacekeeping force said in a statement said the twin-rotor Chinook helicopter that made an emergency landing was flying from Mazar-e-Sharif to Kabul on Monday when the incident occurred. |