'Militants' caught in Afghan raid

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US-led coalition and Afghan troops have detained seven suspected militants in two raids in the east and south of the country, the coalition says.

Five men were arrested in a compound near Asadabad in eastern Kunar province early on Thursday. Two others were captured in southern Helmand province.

The five are suspected of helping militants from neighbouring Pakistan, a statement said.

There are fears of renewed Taleban and al-Qaeda attacks this summer.

A coalition statement said that the five men arrested in Kunar are suspected of helping foreign fighters enter the province from Bajaur in neighbouring Pakistan.

The two men detained in Helmand were suspected to be involved in "anti-government activity" in the area.

Bloodshed in Afghanistan last year returned to levels not seen since the fall of the Taleban in 2001, with the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar and areas in the east of the country particularly hard-hit.

Some 4,000 people are believed to have died last year in the insurgency - about a quarter of them civilians.