Afghan police arrest 6 suspected suicide bombers, seize explosive vests and weapons in Kabul

By Amir Shah

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan police on Sunday arrested six men and seized suicide vests, assault rifles and more than 50 hand grenades during a raid on a residential building in central Kabul, senior officials said.

Kabul Police Chief Gen. Mohammad Ayub Salangi said an investigation was under way to determine the identities of the men he described as “terrorists” and what they were planning to attack.

The raid comes as British Prime Minister David Cameron meets in London with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan to discuss prospects for peace talks with the Taliban. Cameron initiated the meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari last year to boost co-operation among the countries and promote regional stability.

The talks, on Sunday and Monday, are expected to focus on preventing a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan when British, American and other NATO troops withdraw from the country by the end of next year. Downing Street said the trilateral meeting will include Afghan and Pakistani army and intelligence chiefs for the first time.

Deputy Kabul Police Chief Daud Amin said police discovered the explosive vests and at least 55 hand grenades among other weapons in the house.

Recently, teams of Taliban suicide bombers carried out two spectacular attacks in central Kabul.

On Jan. 21, five Taliban suicide bombers attacked the traffic police headquarters, killing three policemen and wounding at least 30 people. All five attackers were killed in a nine-hour gun battle. That attack came less than a week after six Taliban suicide bombers attacked the gates of the Afghan intelligence service, killing one guard and wounding dozens.

In other violence, an Afghan government official said a roadside bomb killed a family of five, including two young children, on Saturday night in southern Afghanistan. The administrator for Miyanishin district in Helmand province, Shah Mahmood Shafa, said the family was driving through the district when their car hit the bomb.

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Associated Press writers Mirwais Khan in Kandahar and Patrick Quinn in Kabul contributed to this report.

12:15ET 03-02-13