(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-12 15:25

KABUL -- Afghan National Army (ANA) have captured a key insurgent improvised explosive device (IED) facilitator from eastern province of Khost, said a statement released here by the US-led Coalition forces early Tuesday.

Nasimulla, a known Taliban commander, was arrested during a combined operation of ANA and the Coalition forces in the Dand Faqiran area of Yaqubi district on February 9, it said.

"Nasimulla is suspected of being a key Taliban facilitator responsible for several attacks against Afghan National Security Forces using improvised explosive devices," the statement said.

The insurgent, according to the military statement, is also suspected of commanding an IED emplacement cell based in the Sabari district and travels throughout eastern provinces of Khost and Paktika to conduct attacks against Afghan government forces and civilians.

In a related development, Afghan National Police on February 6 arrested three men suspected of facilitating IED operations near the Pakistan border in the Bermel district of eastern Paktika province.

"Taliban insurgents have changed their tactics away from direct attacks against Afghan forces," said Vanessa R. Bowman, a Coalition spokesperson. "Now, insurgents are turning to IED attacks."

The spokesman further said Afghan national security forces, Afghan government and the Coalition forces are making a concerted effort to disrupt insurgent activity throughout the country.

The Coalition forces in another early Tuesday statement said two civilians were injured on February 11 in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province by an improvised explosive device remotely detonated by suspected insurgents.

The IED exploded just before a convoy of Afghan army and Coalition soldiers were going to pass a roadway in Shah Wali Kot district and caused no injuries to the soldiers, the statement said, adding that Afghan National Police who responded to the scene later detained four suspects.

An around 60,000-strong foreign force, separately under the flag of NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the U.S.-led Coalition forces, are deployed in war-torn Afghanistan, fighting militants and ensuring security.

Taliban's fugitive chief Mullah Mohammad Omar Monday vowed to accelerate militants' activities against Afghan government forces and Afghanistan-based international troops, according to a statement read out to media outlets in south Afghanistan by a Taliban purported spokesman.

The alleged word from Omar came after a three-day NATO allies gathering in Germany ended on Sunday without an agreement on Afghan missions.

Rising militancy-related violence killed over 6,000 people in the post-Taliban nation last year.