KABUL, Oct 4: Alleged would-be suicide bombers detained in Afghanistan claim they have been trained by Arab, Chechen and Uzbek militants in Pakistan, the Afghan intelligence service said on Wednesday.

The claims were from 17 attackers who were arrested in the past month before they had the chance to strike, Sayed Ansari, a spokesman for the Afghan National Directorate of Security, told reporters.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied the existence of militant training facilities on its soil.

“All of the detained have confessed they received training for suicide attacks, attacks against schools and institutions from Arab, Chechen and Uzbek instructors on the other side of the border,” claimed Ansari.

He said illiterate people, those with a poor religious education or from deprived backgrounds were being “brainwashed” in training camps across the border and sent to Afghanistan.

“They focus on religious feelings of people, show them made-up videos of coalition forces in Afghanistan, preach that Islam is in danger in Afghanistan and the government does not have control to make them ready for their inauspicious attempts,” he said.—AFP