Kabul: Security forces in Afghanistan have captured five suspected Taleban activists, including a "notorious al-Qaida link" Mullah Janan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said on May 25.

"This morning we received a report from Kandahar that a group of Taleban who wanted to plant a bomb in one of the crowded areas in Kandahar were caught. Among them was Mullah Janan, he said.

"The Nation" quoted Abdullah as saying the mullah was "one of the notorious links of al-Qaida among the Taleban."

While five Taleban had been captured, the preliminary report that Janan was among them had not yet been confirmed, Abdullah said.

Kandahar was the heartland of the ousted Taleban regime and remnants of the militia and their al-Qaida allies continue to launch regular attacks on government and foreign targets in Southern and Eastern Afghanistan.

Security forces in Khost province on May 24 arrested six people who "were also involved in some of these activities," the minister said.

Eighteen months after the toppling of the Taleban, their leader Mullah Omar and his 'guest' Osama bin Laden remain at large despite a massive international manhunt and multi-million dollar rewards on their heads.

ANI