A TALIBAN operative behind two major attacks in Kabul, including the horrific bomb blast that killed 150 people in May 2017, was arrested by Afghan special forces on Saturday, officials confirmed.

Agents have also detained a university professor accused of being Isis chief recruiter in Afghanistan as the jihadists seek to take advantage of the country’s deteriorating security situation.

The Afghan National Directorate of Security said in a statement that Mohammad Sharif had been arrested with two other Taliban operatives.

He is accused of masterminding the lorry bomb that killed 150 people in Kabul’s diplomatic area in May 2017.

Officials allege that he also planned a suicide bomb that killed five people last November.

In another operation the intelligence agency detained Abu Obaidullah Mutawakkil, a university professor and imam at a Kabul mosque.

He is accused of recruiting hundreds of young men to Isis and sending them to Nangarhar Province, a jihadist stronghold.

Recent reports show that a resurgent Taliban is taking control of large parts of Afghanistan again.

A delegation from the hard-line Islamist group took part in peace talks in Moscow last week, however it refused to negotiate with the government which it accuses of being puppets for US imperialism.