Afghan forces arrest Taliban commander

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan police have arrested a Taliban commander in the southern province of Kandahar while 15 insurgents have been killed in clashes with Afghan and NATO troops, the government said on Sunday.

The violence came days after the United States and its NATO partners reaffirmed long-term commitment to Afghanistan.

The United States has urged allies to redouble efforts in the face of rising Afghan violence and is sending an extra 3,500 Marines. France has promised another 700 troops for NATO's 47,000-strong Afghan force.

Police arrested Taliban commander Abdul Jabar on Saturday in the most significant capture of a militant for some time, the Interior Ministry said.

Jabar, who the government said organized attacks in the south, was captured while on his way towards Pakistan. He was a deputy of Mullah Mansour Dadullah, a prominent Taliban commander captured in Pakistan in February, it said.

"He was involved in Taliban insurgent operations against the Afghan state and coalition forces," the ministry said in a statement.

Also on Saturday, 15 insurgents were killed in two clashes about 40 km (25 miles) west of Kandahar city, the Defense Ministry said, in an area where NATO and Afghan forces have repeatedly battled the Taliban in recent years.

The Taliban, ousted by U.S.-led forces in 2001, have vowed to step up their violent campaign to expel foreign forces and bring down the Western-backed government.

Violence surged in Afghanistan over the past two years. Last year, more than 6,000 people killed, almost a third of them civilians, raising questions about how to deal with the Taliban.

The government has been trying to tempt mid- and low-level Taliban to give up their fight and re-join society but it has had little impact on sapping the insurgents' strength.

President Hamid Karzai told reporters in Kabul he had spoken of the need for "political engagement" with some Taliban at last week's NATO summit in Bucharest.

Karzai repeated an offer of talks with rank-and-file Taliban but said there would be no negotiations with militant leaders linked to al Qaeda and responsible for violence.

"We have the wish and whenever the opportunity arises, we will do so 100 percent," Karzai told a news conference in Kabul, referring to talks with lower-level Taliban.

A Taliban spokesman was defiant, dismissing France's decision to send more troops.

"It makes it easier for us to find and hit targets," spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said by telephone.

"Whoever sends troops to Afghanistan is basically fighting a U.S. war and getting its soldiers killed to protect U.S. interests," he said.

(Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai, Jonathon Burch, Sayed Salahuddin)

(Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)