Three local Taliban leaders have been detained by the Afghan forces and the NATO-led coalition troops, as part of an increased campaign against insurgents in Afghanistan, the coalition forces confirmed Wednesday.

"Afghan and coalition forces yesterday confirmed the arrest of Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Rahman in Kunduz province Oct. 19," the coalition or International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a press release providing daily operational updates.

He is accused of being the planner and coordinator behind several high-profile attacks in northern Afghanistan, including the hijacking of fuel trucks in Kunduz in 2009 and the killing of several ISAF soldiers in 2010 in the province 250 km north of Afghan capital Kabul, the ISAF release added.

Another Taliban leader was captured in eastern Logar province, some 60 km south of Kabul earlier Wednesday.

"The arrested leader maintained close ties to Haqqani network leadership and was directly involved in planning vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (IED) attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the province," it said.

The Taliban-linked Haqqani network mostly operating in eastern Afghan provinces and capital Kabul is responsible for many high- profile attacks against the security forces.

"Afghan and coalition officials today confirmed the death of Haqqani leader Ehsan, who was killed along with another insurgent by Afghan and coalition forces Monday after being observed executing a mortar attack against Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar province," the release said.

In addition, the joint forces killed two insurgents after being attacked by small arms fire during a partnered patrol in Wardak province on Tuesday. The combined force engaged the three attackers, killing two and forcing a third to flee the area in the province 35 km west of Kabul, according to the release.

The joint forces also detained another Taliban leader in Kandahar province 450 km south of Kabul on Tuesday.

The detained leader was responsible for assassination attempts, IED attacks, and facilitation of lethal aid throughout Kandahar province. During the operation, the security force also detained three suspected insurgents, the coalition release said.

Separately, Afghan police detained a 10-member group of terrorists in Helmand province 555 km south of Kabul on Tuesday.

"The group of armed men were detained in provincial capital Lashkar Gah and were responsible for subversive activities in the city and surrounding areas besides launching armed robberies throughout Helmand," provincial police chief Nabi Ilham told reporters earlier Wednesday.

Taliban militants have yet to make comments.

Afghan forces and some 100,000 NATO-led coalition troops have intensified cleanup operations against Taliban and other militant groups throughout the country recently but the insurgents in response launched armed attacks and carried out IED and suicide attacks against them.

Abdul Khalil Mubariz, the administrative district chief of Purchaman district in Farah province, 695 km west of Kabul, was killed in an IED attack Tuesday afternoon while travelling to a remote area to check police checkpoints, a spokesman for provincial government, Abdul Rahmand Zhwandy, told Xinhua. Enditem

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