KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Afghan National Police arrested a Taliban shadow district chief and killed five of his comrades following a gunfight in southern province of Kandahar, a provincial government spokesman said Monday.

"The ANP laid an ambush to arrest a Taliban local leader in Arghistan district, Kandahar province on Sunday. A gunfight erupted during the course and caused five militants killed," spokesman Aziz Ahmad Azizi told Xinhua.

The ANP has not suffered any damage in the stand-off, he said.

The arrested Taliban local leader Abdul Rauf, who served as insurgents' shadow district chief for Shahr-i-Safa district of neighboring Zabul province, was shifted to provincial capital Kandahar city for questioning at related departments, he added.

The Afghan security forces, backed by NATO-led coalition troops, have increased ground and air offensives against militants within the past few months as the Taliban militant group has been attempting to take territory and consolidate its positions during the winter in the mountainous country.

The militant group has not made comments on the report so far.