NATO says Afghan and coalition troops have captured an al-Qaida facilitator who was a former associate of terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.In a statement Thursday, NATO said the man was captured in the Nahr-e Shahi area of northern Balkh province, but did not give his name.The coalition said the Pakistan-based man planned attacks and was a close associate of senior al-Qaida insurgents. He is also suspected of being with bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2001.NATO says he is one of several senior al-Qaida and Taliban insurgents captured in Balkh province this year.
Also Thursday, insurgents attacked a road construction site in the southern province of Uruzgan, killing two security guards and a police officer. Provincial spokesman Milad Ahmad Mudasir said a number of the attackers were also killed in subsequent fighting.