KABUL: The Afghan Taliban demanded on Monday that Pakistan release details of how one of its former ministers died in a Karachi jail in 2010.

Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, who was defence minister when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, was captured in Balochistan in 2007, and died of heart disease in March 2010, the Taliban said in a statement.

Mullah Akhund's family have only recently been informed of his death.

“It is still not clear whether the hero of Afghanistan's jihad and (the) Islamic nation passed away of sickness or he had been martyred due to torture and torment,” said Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Afghan Taliban.

“We strongly urge the Pakistani authorities to provide accurate and complete information regarding his detention, sickness and his death,” Mr Mujahid said.—Reuters