"He left his base and drove to his home district to join Hezb-i-Islami," Kunar governor Shuja-Ul Mulk Jalala told AFP, referring to an insurgent group that fights alongside Taliban militants.

Museeb Khan was an officer in a special force unit assigned to conduct complex operations against the Islamist rebels who wage a guerrilla war against US-led NATO forces and the Kabul government.