Five suspects in army school attack arrested in Afghanistan

Five suspects in the last month Taliban attack on an army-run school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar have been arrested in Afghanistan, local media reported late Tuesday.

A group of Taliban militants had killed 140 children and 10 staff members of the Army Public School on December 16, 2014.

Leading private Geo television reported that "planners and coordinators" of the brutal attack were among those arrested.

There was no official confirmation of the report.

According to the report, Pakistani officials have been informed about the arrests.

The accused are Pakistani nationals and are important commanders of a banned group.

"They were arrested on information provided by Pakistani intelligence agencies," Geo TV quoted sources as saying.

They are likely to be handed over to Pakistan after interrogation, according to the report.

The TV said that the recent visit to Kabul by the Pakistani spy chief, Lt. Gen. Rizwan Akhtar, was in the wake of the arrests. Akhtar had met President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on Sunday.

Pakistan Army Chief, General Raheel Sharif, had visited Kabul a day after the Peshawar attack and had shared "vital intelligence" with the Afghan authorities about the attack.

Pakistan says that many Pakistani Taliban militants have fled to Afghanistan as the result of military operations in the tribal regions. Officials say Pakistani Taliban now operate from the Afghan side of the border. Endi