KABUL, Jan 19: Seven members of the Al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden have been captured in Kabul, Afghan television announced on Saturday.

The report, quoting the Bakhtar private news agency, said the seven were captured on Friday night in District 11, in the north of the capital.

“The security forces of District 11 captured seven Al Qaeda members,” the network said.

It showed footage of the seven, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, some wearing skullcaps. Their features were Afghan.

The arrests, which came on the day interim leader Hamid Karzai headed for Saudi Arabia, mark the first time Al Qaeda members have been captured in Kabul.

On Wednesday, a defence official in Washington said US forces had captured seven suspected Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan in an operation kept secret to prevent spooking others who might be in the same area.

The defence official said the seven were taken by surprise by US forces who captured them at an undisclosed location without firing a shot.

The location and other details of the operation were being withheld to keep from alerting Al Qaeda fighters in the area that their presence had been detected, the official said.

FAHIM AS ACTING LEADER: Afghan Defence Minister Qasim Fahim, one of five deputy chairmen in the interim administration, has been appointed acting leader while Hamid Karzai is overseas, officials said on Saturday.