Afghan officials have announced the arrest of former chief interpreter for the US Army Special Forces

Afghan officials have announced the arrest of former chief interpreter for the US Army Special Forces, who was linked to the mysterious murder of at least nine missing civilians.

Afghan National Directorate said Monday Afghan-American Zakaria Kandahari was arrested in the southern city of Kandahar on charges of torturing and killing Afghan civilians, last seen being taken by the US-led soldiers in Wardak province.

Nine Afghans mysteriously disappeared last year in November, whose bodies were later found near the US military base in Nerkh District on June 2.

On May 21, the footless corpse of an Afghan man missing since November was found near the former US Special Forces base, seen in a video being tortured by Zakaria Kandahari.

Afghan officials accused the US military of killing the missing men and shielding Kandahari from being captured. The US officials, however, denied the allegations.

Protests erupted earlier this year following claims that US-backed ‘death squads’ were operating in Afghanistan’s troubled province of Wardak.

Since then demonstrators have protested against the continued presence of US soldiers in Wardak.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of the so-called war on terror.

The US-led war in Afghanistan removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across Afghanistan, despite the presence of about 100,000 US-led troops.