[David]

AP


Afghan intelligence agents arrested two senior Taliban military commanders, including a former security chief of the hard-line regime's leader Mullah Omar, an official said Tuesday.

Tohr Mullah Naqvi, the Taliban rebels' military commander for Kandahar province, and his deputy Mullah Qayum, also known as Mullah Hunger, were nabbed Monday night at a home in Kandahar city, said Abdullah Laghmani, the provincial intelligence chief.

Laghmani said another suspect apprehended in the city earlier Monday driving a vehicle containing 460 pounds of explosives, allegedly intended for Taliban fighters, had led them to the two commanders.

"These two commanders were involved in every terrorist activity in Kandahar province against the government and coalition forces," Laghmani said.

He said that "important documents" had been seized from the two, which gave the names of other rebel commanders in the province.

Laghmani said that during the rule of the Taliban, Naqvi was in charge of security for Mullah Omar's home in Kandahar city, and Qayum served as a military commander in the province.

The reclusive Taliban supreme leader remains at large.

U.S.-led forces ousted the hard-line regime in late 2001 for harboring Osama bin Laden, but Taliban-led rebels remain active in the south and east of Afghanistan, frequently launching attacks on government and coalition troops.