15 Taliban killed, top commander held

Afghan and Nato forces killed 15 Taliban insurgents in separate raids in southern Afghanistan, where police also captured a senior Taliban commander, officials said yesterday.
Ten Taliban militants were killed in a joint operation by Afghan and Nato-led forces in Zhari district of Kandahar province on Saturday, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Another five rebels were killed in a similar operation in another part of the district -- a hotbed of Taliban activities -- on Saturday, the statement said.
In Kandahar city on Saturday, police arrested Taliban commander Abdul Jabar, who served as deputy to captured militant leader Mullah Mansoor Dadullah, the interior ministry said.
The ministry described Jabar as the most senior Taliban commander after Dadullah, who was taken into custody in Pakistan in February.
"Mullah Abdul Jabar had a significant role in terrorist activities after Dadullah," it said in a statement.
Kandahar, the birthplace of the Islamic Taliban movement which was in power between 1996 and 2001, is one of the most troubled regions in southern Afghanistan, where the Taliban-led insurgency is intense.