ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: US troops have arrested a former Afghan minister who heads an influential Pakhtoon tribe in eastern Paktia province, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported on Thursday.

Haji Mohammad Naeem Kochi was picked up by US forces on Wednesday on a highway running south of Kabul en route to a meeting with his Ahmedzai tribe, the Pakistan-based news service said.

AIP said Paktia governor Raz Mohammad Dalili confirmed the arrest but gave no reason.

Naeem Kochi was a minister in the government of moderate Afghan leader Sibghatullah Mojaddedi.

He leads the large Ahmedzai tribe which has considerable influence in Afghanistan’s Pakhtoon-dominated Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Logar and Nangarhar provinces, the AIP added.—AFP