KABUL, April 19: The Afghan army detained 68 Pakistani men soon after they entered the country over suspected ties with Taliban-linked rebels, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

Prior to the mass detention on Friday near the border in the southern province of Kandahar, the ministry received intelligence that a group of Pakistanis with possible links to “terrorists” was entering the region, it said.

“The army ... detained yesterday 68 unarmed Pakistani nationals. They are being investigated,” the ministry said in a statement.

General Mohammad Zahir Azimi, chief spokesman for the ministry, told AFP the army had reports that dozens of Pakistanis linked to Taliban-led rebels were entering the troubled region.

“We had intelligence reports that a group of Pakistanis possibly linked to terrorists were entering. When our units encountered these Pakistanis, they detained them to find out if they’re linked to terrorists,” he said.

Authorities were trying to determine if the men were linked to the Taliban or if they were workers or Pakistani traders.

“When they were detained, they had no travelling documents,” he added.

The border is porous and it is not uncommon for people to cross without documents.

Afghanistan, with the support of tens of thousands of US-led invading foreign troops, is fighting a fierce rebellion led by the Taliban that was in government between 1996 and 2001.

There are scores of Pakistanis working in Afghanistan as labourers, engineers and road workers.-—AFP