16 Taliban killed in Afghanistan

Separately, six Taliban were killed and two other insurgents arrested after a three-hour gunbattle with Afghan police.

One Nato soldier was lightly wounded in the operation against the suicide cell carried out early Thursday in the troubled Sangin district of Helmand province, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.

The identity of the suspected commanders captured in the raid was not revealed.

An Isaf statement said troops seized two suicide vests, several rocket-propelled grenades and a cache of equipment and weapons "that were ready to be used in future attacks".

Warplanes and helicopters backed up the troops in the operation, it said, adding that there were no civilian casualties.

Most of the Nato troops stationed in Helmand are British.

Afghanistan suffered a wave of four suicide attacks and a bombing at the start of the week after a relative lull, leaving 22 people dead including four Nato soldiers.