The government of Afghanistan has captured two senior Taliban commanders and handed them over to US military for investigation, an Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman said Sunday.

"Troops of Afghan National Army (ANA) captured Taliban commanders Sultan Mohammad and Mullah Abdul Rahim from western Farah province on Saturday and handed them over to US-led coalition forces for investigation," spokesman Zahir Azimi told Xinhua.

Both the suspected Taliban leaders, the spokesman said, were active in the southern and western provinces of the war-plagued country and were responsible for carrying several subversive activities in the region.

"We hope their arrest would help Afghan army to eliminate insurgents in the area," Azimi said.

Both the commanders, according to the official, were on the black list wanted by the United States.

However, no US military official was immediately available to make any comments on the issue.

Over a dozen Taliban leaders including supreme chief Mullah Mohammad Omar, wanted by the United States are still at large.

Taliban remnants whose regime was ousted in late 2001, have sped up their attacks since early spring with an aim to destabilize the US-backed Afghan administration and derail the forthcoming Sept. 18 elections.

Source: Xinhua