AFGHAN authorities in the southern province of Kandahar have arrested a senior Taliban official and three of his aides, a local official said yesterday.

　　Mullah Sher Mohammad Malang, governor of the southwestern province of Nimruz during Taliban rule, and his aides were caught in a raid on a mosque in Kandahar city last week, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

　　He said all four had been handed over to U.S. forces in Kandahar, a former bastion of the radical Taliban movement which was overthrown late last year after U.S. air strikes and a ground offensive by anti-Taliban Afghan forces.

　　The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press said U.S. and Afghan forces launched a joint operation Monday night in the Band-e-Taimour area, 65 km west of Kandahar, for Taliban remnants and their al-Qaida allies. (SD-Agencies)