KABUL, Feb 1: Afghan security forces have detained 12 suspected militants, including two Pakistani nationals, on suspicion of terrorism including helping with suicide bombings, the government said on Thursday.

Four of them, including a man described as a known Taliban commander, were arrested on Thursday in the southeastern province of Ghazni, said the interior ministry.

The commander was alleged to be a Taliban suicide bombing “facilitator”, it said in a statement.

Six other rebels, including two Pakistani nationals, were captured the same day in the same province.

Another alleged suicide bomb facilitator was seized in southeastern Logar province, which adjoins the capital, and the 12th was captured near the southern city of Kandahar. “All the detained terrorists are in custody of police,” the statement said.

Afghan officials say circles in Pakistan play a major role in a Taliban insurgency launched after the extremists were driven from government in a US-led military campaign in late 2001.

Afghanistan saw a surge in suicide bombings in 2006 with nearly 140 attacks killing nearly 300 people, most of them civilians.—AFP