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World Bulletin / News Desk 

A high-level Taliban commander in northern Afghanistan, Mullah Abdul Rahman, has been captured in a joint Afghan-NATO operation, police said on Tuesday.

Kunduz province police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Husseini said, "he encouraged insurgents to plant roadside bombs and stage high-profile attacks on Afghan officials."

Husseini said Rahman, whom NATO has described as a "Taliban financier" in the north, was captured in Kunduz's Char Darah district last Friday.

A spokesman for NATO's Afghan force said it could not immediately comment.

German media said Germany's elite KSK force was involved in the operation to capture Rahman, whom they said had orchestrated attacks on German soldiers.

With violence intensifying 11 years into the war, there is concern over how the 350,000-strong Afghan security forces will manage once most foreign troops leave by the end of 2014.