KABUL, Feb 1: Afghan authorities have detained five foreigners suspected of having links with Al Qaeda and planning acts of sabotage including suicide attacks, government officials said on Wednesday.

The five men, three Pakistanis, an Iraqi and an Iranian, were arrested in the southern province of Nimroz close to the border with Iran. Four were arrested on Tuesday and one last Friday, the officials said.

“They entered Afghanistan from Iran illegally and preliminary investigations show that they had links with Al Qaeda and other terrorist organisations,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Yousuf Stanezai.

The spokesman declined to say why authorities suspected the five were planning attacks, saying an investigation was continuing.

Dozens of people, most of them civilians, have been killed in a wave of attacks — including 13 suicide bombings — across Afghanistan’s south and east in recent months.—Reuters