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Police arrest Taliban adviser from Germany in Afghan raid

By Sara Shayanian
Afghan soldiers detain a suspected Taliban militant who identified himself as a German national after being arrested by commandos. Photo courtesy Afghan National Army/EPA
Afghan soldiers detain a suspected Taliban militant who identified himself as a German national after being arrested by commandos. Photo courtesy Afghan National Army/EPA

March 1 (UPI) -- Police have arrested a German man they say served as an adviser to the Taliban during a raid on a bomb-making compound in southern Helmand province.

Officials said the man speaks German and said he's a German citizen. He was captured along with three other suspected Taliban militants in the Gereshk district.

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Afghan officials say the suspect calls himself "Abdul Wadood," although his birth name is not known.

The suspect was identified as a "military adviser of Mullah Nasir," Gereshk police chief Ismail Khplwak said, and may have been making bombs for Taliban militants.

Omar Zwak, a provincial governor spokesman, said the man carried documents identifying him as a German citizen.

"The man has been moved to Kandahar air base and he is now in the custody of U.S. forces," Maj. Abdul Qadir Bahdurzai of the Afghan Army told BBC News.

Experts say the Taliban has not been able to recruit as many foreign fighters from Europe as other terror groups, like the Islamic State militant group.

The best-known foreign fighter for the group, John Walker Lindh, was known as the "American Taliban" and was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

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