Haqqani network members captured in Afghanistan

Four members of the Haqqani insurgent network have been arrested in eastern Afghanistan, the National Directorate for Security (NDS), the country's intelligence agency, said Friday.

"A four-member group of Haqqani terror network and a would-be suicide bomber were captured by the personnel of NDS," Xinhua quoted an agency statement as saying.

They were involved in carrying out terror activities, organising explosions and suicide attacks in Gardez, the provincial capital of eastern Paktiya Province, the statement noted.

As a Taliban-linked group of militants, the Haqqani network mostly operates in eastern provinces and Kabul and has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces.

The captured men have confessed their involvement in subversive activities, the statement added.

The Taliban insurgent group has intensified attacks recently as the Afghan security forces took the full operational lead from foreign troops in June last year.

The war-torn country is due to take over the responsibility for its own security from foreign troops by the end of the year.

More than 57,000 NATO-led troops, down from the peak of 130,000 in 2010, are currently deployed in Afghanistan.