NDS Detains 241 Suicide Bombers in Two Years: Taheri

As many as 241 suicide bombers planning to target government officials and parliamentary members have been arrested in the past two years in Afghanistan, a media official with the National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Tuesday.

The country's two vice presidents, the Balkh provincial governor Atah Mohammad Noor, judicial high court members, cabinet members and parliamentarians were among targets the detained bombers had planned to assassinate, according to NDS spokesman Shafiqullah Taheri.

Other targets Taheri named were jihadi leaders Ustad Sayyaf and Sebghatullah Mujadidi.

Taheri said that NDS investigations showed neighboring countries were agitating more conflict in Afghanistan for their own benefit.

"The interrogations of the detainees show that there are regional - Central and South Asian - neighboring countries supporting terrorism and war in Afghanistan, including some spy agencies from the Central and South Asian neighboring countries," he said.

Taheri listed a number of provinces where there had been some recent success for the NDS forces.

He said that the Taliban's shadow governor in the Kohe Safi district of Parwan province and one of his fighters were detained by the NDS recently. In Kunduz a seven-member suicide group was detained. An planner of suicide attacks was arrested in western Herat province, while in the country's capital Kabul, a massive insurgent attack on one of the five star hotels was prevented.

He also said that five insurgents related to Taliban's shadow governor of northern Takhar province were arrested recently - two were intending to attack the capital Taloqan city, while three other insurgents were arrested with 52 kg of potassium chloride in northern Takhar province.