A foreign fighter was arrested in a night raid by commandos in southern Helmand province this week, local officials confirmed.

The operation was launched in Gereshk district of Helmand, which also involved air support of foreign troops to target an insurgent save haven, a spokesman for the commandos, Jawid Saleem said.

“Five insurgents were killed during the operation and three others including a German national were arrested,” he said, adding that “the forces have also discovered some weapons and explosives.”

However, he did not provide further details about the operation.

This comes after Masoom Stanekzai, head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), addressed delegates at the second Kabul Process meeting and said hundreds of foreign militants have been arrested in the past few months and that there is the possibility of hundreds more having been killed on the battlefields.

“Militants are being recruited from around the world through the use of social media,” Stanekzai said.