A day after the arrest of two foreign militants in Sar-e-Pul, the provincial governor, Mohammad Reza Wahdat, said parts of the province have turned into training hubs for terrorists where suicide bombers are being trained.

The governor suggested that a large-scale military operation should be launched in the province in order to overcome threats to parts of Sar-e-Pul.

“They are the groups that are training militants in different areas of warfare. They train mine planting and suicide bombing,” Wahdat.

He said a large number of foreign militants have settled in the province and they train the Taliban on how to make suicide bombs. 

“They [militants] have trained at least 60 suicide bombers who were used in Laghman and Sar-e-Pul battles,” he added.

The two arrested suspects, who speak Persian, English and Uzbek, said they provided the Taliban with terrorist training in Sar-e-Pul for the past few months.

They said they came to Afghanistan to fight the war against ‘Americans’.

“They told us that Americans have come to Afghanistan which is an Islamic country and are oppressing (the people) here. We came here because of corruption in this country,” said Damir Zanliov, one of the suspects who claims to be a Kazakhstan national.

“I formed a relationship with Afghan Taliban in Waziristan in Pakistan and I came to Afghanistan for jihad,” said Abdul Matin, who claims to be a Turkmenistan national.

Meanwhile, a number of Sar-e-Pul residents said security threats have increased in the province in the past three years.

“Taliban has carried out many battles in the province for the past few years and this worries the people,” said Hameed, a resident of Sar-e-Pul.

“The security situation will not improve unless a large-scale military operation is carried out in Sar-e-Pul,” another resident Mohammad Yunus said.