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Afghan authorities arrest former Taliban minister

SPIN BOLDAK: Afghan authorities have arrested a former Taliban minister in a US-led operation against the ousted Taliban in the south of the country, an Afghan official said on Monday.

Spokesman for the governor of southern Kandahar province Khalid Pashtun told Reuters Taliban ex-trade minister Mullah Abdul Razzaq had been arrested.

The arrest took place in a US-led operation against the Taliban and al Qaeda suspects in the mountains 80 km (50 miles) north of Kandahar, Pashtun added. He did not say when.

The defence minister for the Taliban, who were ousted from power in late 2001, was also named Mullah Abdul Razzaq, but Afghan officials said he had not been arrested.

Pashtun said Razzaq was one of a dozen Taliban arrested in recent days during the the latest operation by hundreds of US troops combing mountain caves and villages in "Operation Valiant Strike".-Reuters