NATO Says Forces Capture Bin Laden Associate in Afghanistan

Posted June 2nd, 2011 at 7:05 am (UTC-5)
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NATO says Afghan and coalition troops have captured an al-Qaida facilitator who was a former associate of terror leader Osama bin Laden.

In a statement Thursday, NATO said the man was captured in the Nahr-e Shahi area of northern Balkh province, but did not give his name.

It said the Pakistan-based man planned attacks and was a close associate of senior al-Qaida insurgents. He is also suspected of being with bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2001.

NATO says he is one of several senior al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents captured in Balkh province this year.

The German military said Thursday a bomb attack in Baghlan province killed one of its soldiers and wounded six others. It said a roadside bomb struck the soldiers' tank near the northern city of Kunduz.

Germany has about 5,000 soldiers in Afghanistan as part of the NATO coalition.