Taliban militants surrender to gov't in E Afghanistan

KABUL, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A local commander of Taliban militants along with nine of his armed men in western Herat province surrendered to the government, a local newspaper reported Tuesday.

"Faiz Mohammad Pahlawan along with his nine armed men laid down arm and joined the government on Sunday," daily 8 Subh quoted Herat police spokesman Abdul Rauf Ahmadi as saying.

The surrender of Pahlawan took place just days after the killing of Taliban commander in the province Ghulam Yahya Akbari.

Akbari along with 24 of his militants were killed during an operation in Gazara district days ago and his son-in-law Bashir Qinaat along with four of his men were captured.