7 suspected Taliban rebels held in Pak

Police arrested seven suspected Taliban fighters after raiding a home in southwestern Pakistan.

Police arrested seven suspected Taliban fighters after raiding a home in southwestern Pakistan, a senior police official said on Friday.

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None of the men captured during the raid late Thursday in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Balochistan province, appeared to be an important Taliban figure, said Abdul Qadir, a deputy inspector general of police.

But officers were investigating to determine when the men arrived in the city and their reasons for being there, Qadir said.

"We arrested them because they had no travel documents, and so far we only know that they are Taliban," he said, without giving more details.

The arrests came less than a week after Pakistan deported 406 Afghans arrested for illegal entry in Balochistan.

Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, and Afghan government officials have repeatedly said that Taliban fighters find refuge in Balochistan.

Balochistan is home to many Afghan refugees, and its border with Afghanistan is long, porous and believed to be a route for arms and narcotics traffickers.