Afghan commander defects with truck full of guns

An Afghan army special forces commander has defected taking with him an all-terrain military truck packed with guns and high-tech equipment, officials in the eastern Kunar province have said.

A spokesman for the Hezb-e-Islami insurgent group, which is allied with the Taliban, confirmed it had received the vehicle and equipment.

Monsif Khan, who led a 20-man team in Kunar's capital Asadabad, is the first special forces commander to switch sides.

"He sent some of his comrades on leave and paid others to go out sightseeing, and then escaped with up to 30 guns, night-vision goggles, binoculars and a Humvee," said Shuja ul-Mulkh Jalala, the governor of Kunar.