Afghan officer held over 'Taliban plots'

An Afghan army officer has been arrested on accusations of being a member of the Taliban and plotting suicide attacks in Kabul, the country's intelligence agency said Saturday. The officer was named as Gul Mohammad by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), which said he had confessed to the claims. "The National Directorate of Security arrested Gul Mohammad... who was an officer with the Afghan National Army and was intending to organise suicide and terrorist attacks," said NDS spokesman Lutfullah Mashal. Mashal told a press conference that the arrested man was "a member of the Taliban group in Kabul city." Mohammad is accused of organising attacks on three areas of Kabul where a string of Afghan and international military bases are located, including the heavily-secured headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and the defence ministry. Infiltration of the Afghan security forces by the Taliban is a serious problem in Afghanistan and has been linked to high-profile attacks including one on a Kabul military hospital in May which killed six medical students. That was carried out by a suicide bomber in uniform. The Taliban denied that he was one of their members but are known frequently to distort their claims. Mashal could not give details on what rank the officer held, while the defence ministry said it had no further details on the arrest. "I am not aware of the details of who he was or how was he arrested, but a government agency would not lie," said defence spokesman General Zahir Azimi.