Commander of group that claimed killing Swedish journalist arrested

January 28, 2015 05:45 pm | Updated 05:45 pm IST - KABUL

Afghanistan's main intelligence agency said on Wednesday it had arrested a commander of a militant group known as the "Suicide Front", that claimed responsibility in 2014 for the execution-style killing of a Swedish journalist.

Nils Horner, 51, who worked for Swedish Radio and held dual British-Swedish nationality, was shot dead in Kabul’s diplomatic quarter in March 2014.

The militant group had separately claimed responsibility for the killing of the governor of the province of Logar in 2013.

"The National Directorate of Security detained a militant commander for the terrorist group Mahaz-e-Fedaiyan ... with two pistols, two time bombs and a silencer," said Hassib Sediqi, a spokesman for the agency, referring to the group.

The militants, who described themselves as a Taliban splinter faction, said the radio journalist was a spy for Britain's intelligence agency.

The Swedish mission in Afghanistan said details of the arrest would be passed on to investigators in Sweden, but that it was too early to reach any conclusions.

"The investigation in Sweden is still ongoing," said deputy mission chief Anders SkiŮldebrand, adding that Swedish investigators working closely with the Afghan spy agency had been to Afghanistan in 2014 and could return.

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