KABUL, Dec 23: US troops have captured three militants who were planting an improvised bomb on a road near a coalition military base in southeast Afghanistan, a military spokesman said on Tuesday.

“On Sunday night, special forces captured three individuals planting an improvised explosive device on the main road adjacent to Urgun firebase,” Lt-Col Bryan Hilferty told reporters, referring to a base in Paktika province near the Pakistan border.

Thousands of US-led soldiers and warplanes backed by hundreds of Afghan militiamen were continuing to hunt suspected militants, the colonel said.—AFP