The National Directorate of Security (NDS) – Afghanistan's intelligence agency has arrested a Taliban commander who was trying to escape to Quetta city of Pakistan after participating in heavy clashes in Afghanistan.

A statement released by NDS on Saturday states that Sayed Mohammad-ud-Din alias Sadat was detained together with one of his companion during a special raid in western Herat province.

Mohammad-ud-Din has confessed to NDS during initial investigation that he played key role in attack on Qaisar District of Faryab province.

As a result of the attack, Taliban took control of several areas in Qaisar District but they were pushed back by a military operation led by first vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum.

During the operation, Gen. Dostum escaped unharmed from a Taliban ambush in Qaisar District in mid August.

Also, three suicide bombers were arrested in Qaisar district who had intended to kill the first vice-President.

The suicide bombers had made their way up to the vicinity of Gen. Dostum's residence.

Kabul police have registered 73 criminal cases including terrorism, kidnapping and robbery in last two weeks.

Kabul police chief said in a press conference on Saturday that 167 suspects have been rounded up from different parts of the city in connection with these crimes.

Major General Abdul Rahman Rahemi told reporters that among the arrested suspects some are members of the group that recently kidnapped a child and demanded money from his family.

He said the child was recovered and handed over to his family without fulfilling demand of the kidnappers.

The arrested suspects also include people who were transporting weapons and using illegal transmission sets.

This comes as terrorist groups including Taliban and Haqqani Network are trying to create more security challenges for security forces.

Interpol has assisted Afghanistan to detain a suspected killer in Iran.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Interior, Mohammad Dawoud had escaped to Iran after stabbing a girl to death in Balkh province.

"Mohammad Dawoud S/O Mohammad Amin a resident of Quland Khalili village of Balkh's Sulgara District had killed his maternal uncle's daughter with a knife and escaped to Iran," says Brigadier General Sayed Afandi, head of INTERPOL's National Central Bureau in Kabul, in a statement released on Saturday.

The press release adds that after efforts made by the Interpol of the Islamic Republic of Iran the suspected killer was arrested and handed over to Afghan side.

The suspected killer has been referred to judiciary for further legal procedures.

A welfare foundation under the name of the former president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai was launched in Kabul on Saturday.

Karzai said in the inaugural ceremony that the 30 years of war which has internal and external reasons not only prevented Afghanistan's development but also pushed it back, adding that, the country needs efforts of young generation to get in the line with developed world countries.

He said that Hamid Karzai Foundation will keep up with the achievements accomplished during the past 13 years in education sector and assist youth to improve by providing them more educational opportunities in the country and abroad.

He added that Hamid Karzai Foundation will also work for cultural development and introduce Afghan Ulemas, prominent figures, intellectuals and scholars to the world.

Rangin Dadfar Spanta, the executive officer of Hamid Karzai Foundation, said that they will not get involved in the politics.

He added that the process of sending youths abroad for education would be transparent and away from religious, tribal and area differences.

Spanta said that Hamid Karzai Foundation has begun functioning with the support of foreign countries, adding that a number of educational organizations have promised them scholarships separate from those allocated for Afghanistan through government.

He made a call on national businessmen and those who are able to help for extending hand to Hamid Karzai Foundation.

Police in Pakistan have arrested a man for arranging to sell his 12-year-old daughter into prostitution in a case that highlights the dramatic abuses inflicted on women and children in some segments of society, reports Radio Liberty 'Radio Azadi'.

Azadi Radio interviews with the intended victim, Nushin, and her brother saying that Adalat Khan, from Pakistan’s tribally dominated northwestern region, has already profited from the sale of at least two other daughters and their mother into lives of servitude or worse.

“I already lost my mother and two sisters,” Nushin, shakily fighting to hold back tears, says in interview. “Now he tried to sell me to two Punjabi men. I don’t know what they would have done with me.” She is now under police protection.

The intended victim's 18-year-old brother, Rezwanullah, says that Nushin shared her suspicions with him and he informed police about it.

“My sister informed me that my father was going to sell her,” Rezwanullah says, “so I took her away and we ran away to our aunt’s house.”

Rezwanullah says he was very young at the time his mother and two sisters were sold, adding that he has little recollection of them and does not know their whereabouts.

Payoffs have purportedly ranged from a few hundred dollars to a foreign visa and, in this latest case, 200,000 rupees ($1,900), roughly equal to a manual laborer’s annual wage.

According to the report, the girl's father who is in custody acknowledges handing over two of his daughters in the past but insists that he merely hoped to give away Nushin in the “name of God.”

Police have said that Nushin's father was arrested during a raid from his home in Sar Dheri village, close to Peshawar, on October 16 who had agreed, via a broker, to sell Nushin for 200,000 rupees to two men from Punjab Province.

Nushin's father has been charged with arranging the sale and the two buyers and the buyers with trying to buy a minor girl for prostitution.

If court finds them guilty, each of them could face up to 25 years in prison.

Security forces have rebuffed a coordinated attack on a number of security posts in Hasak Mina District of eastern Nangarhar province.

Colonel Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, spokesman of Nangarhar police says in a statement that seven attackers were killed an unknown number of them wounded in the clash that erupted following the attack on Friday.

Col. Mashriqiwal further states in the statement that the dead bodies of the killed militants were left behind on the battle ground.

According to the statement, nine militants were killed and 30 others wounded in military operation in Achin District.

Although, the press release does not identify terrorists killed yesterday in Haska Mina and Achin but both of these districts are home to IS-Khorasan group which also goes by its Arabic name 'Daesh'.

28 IS-Khorasan militants were killed in airstrikes and mortar fire in Achin District on Wednesday.

International Organization for Migration (IOM) distributed vital relief supplies across northern, central and eastern Afghanistan this week, helping families affected by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake that struck on 26 October.

Assessment conducted by government, IOM, UN and other NGOs shows an estimated 8,300 families in 14 Afghan provinces were affected by the earthquake. More than 100 people lost lives and around 500 others sustained injuries.

According to a report published by IOM on Saturday, the toll could rise further as remote communities are accessed by assessment teams.

The report further states that the organization distributed relief items to approximately 1,000 families in Badakhshan, Nangarhar, Kunar, Laghman and Takhar provinces, and distributions are ongoing for additional assessed families in these provinces.

"With the majority of assessments completed, getting aid to families in need is our priority," said IOM Afghanistan Chief of Mission Richard Danziger.

Assessments have been completed in 98 districts out of the 117 estimated to have been affected. To date, roughly 17,000 families have been verified.

Access in some of the affected areas remains a challenge due to difficult terrain and security concerns and IOM is coordinating with local partners to ensure that aid reaches affected communities.

Nangarhar, Kunar and Nooristan, are the other provinces hard-hit by the earthquake besides Badakhshan, the epicenter of it.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Friday arrived in Logar province to assess security situation.

He met with security chiefs, other government officials, a number of senators, members of the provincial council, civil society activists, community elders and other residents of Logar province and discussed with them the security.

Security officials requested the President to increase number of police and military operations in this province.

President Ghani pointed to the commanders that the central government is with them and that the cooperation between among the security organs of Logar and Kabul need to improve.

He said that every district needs to have an administrative compound and instructed the commanders to prepare a list of their requirements and send them to respective ministries.

President Ghani also instructed the security forces commanders to remove beaurucracy in the recruitment process and prepare lists of warriors who have shown good performance in foiling enemy plans and rebuffing their attacks for rewards.

President Ghani further said that families of the martyrs need be supported and that government is standing behind them.

Representative of Logar province, who met President Ghan, presented their complaints and suggested for good security, preventing land grabbing, smuggle of mines and provide job opportunities for women.

President Ghani said that people have the right to complain and government will work for solving them.

He added that the purpose of his provincial visits is to hear complaints of people closely and together with residents find solutions for them.

He said that government is trying to provide more job opportunities. He also warned those who have grabbed land illegally as saying that they will be brought to justice.