Local Taliban leader arrested in north Afghan town

A Taliban local leader was arrested in northern Afghan province of Badakhshan on Tuesday, a police chief said. "The Afghan National Police launched a search operation in Pul- e-Hyran area of Kishim district early Tuesday morning. The Taliban leader named Abdul Rahman was captured after a brief gunfight following the raid," the provincial police chief Fazluddin Ayar told Xinhua. The captured leader was involved in several subversive activities in the area, Ayar noted, adding no one was hurt in the clash. The police also found and seized a gun following the skirmish, the police official added. The mountainous province has been witnessing a spike in Taliban- led attacks this year. Up to 34 army soldiers and policemen had been killed and over 20 others injured in two separate attacks in March and September in Wardoj district of the province with Faizabad as its capital, 315 km north of Kabul. Afghan army and police took the full operational lead from NATO- led troops in June this year. The war-torn country is due to take over the responsibility for its own security from foreign troops by the end of 2014. Currently, more than 86,000-strong NATO-led foreign troops, down from the peak of 130,000 in 2010, are being deployed in Afghanistan.