Intelligence service spokesman Latifullah Mashal said on Wednesday that the detained included one of Karzai's bodyguards, as well as a professor at Kabul University and three college students. He added that they are the "most sophisticated and educated group in Kabul" and that the men had assisted Pakistani militants sent to the Afghan capital to carry out recent terror attacks. These men were arrested a week ago. The officials claimed that the arrested people were affiliated with al Qaida and the Haqqani militant group.

He said the group, which also allegedly planned attacks in Kabul, the United States and Europe, was recruited by an Egyptian and a Bangladeshi based in Pakistan. They were based in Miram Shah, the capital of Pakistan's North Waziristan region, where the Haqqani group and other militants operate with relative freedom.

Mashal said, they had a plan to assassinate President Karzai maybe during his travels or trips to the provinces. Several of the individuals received explosives and weapons training in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Blaming Pakistan

Afghan officials have been increasingly vocal in publicly accusing Pakistan and its ISI intelligence agency of maintaining ties with militants, including the Haqqani group. On Tuesday, they claimed that Pakistani officials had advance knowledge of the September 20 assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani.

Pakistan has denied the charges, but the accusations have further strained relations between the two nations that share a long border. The Haqqani militant group, a lethal threat to US-led coalition forces, has been blamed by US intelligence officials and others for a number of high-profile attacks in Kabul in recent years, including hotel bombings and the assault last month on the US Embassy.

Agencies: AP, AFP, Reuters (mj)
Editor: Grahame Lucas