( CNN ) -- A former associate of Osama bin Laden , described by authorities as a `` Pakistan-based attack planner , '' has been arrested in Afghanistan , a spokesman for the NATO-led coalition said Thursday . The International Security Assistance Force declined to identify the man , saying it was not releasing further information . `` It 's part of an ongoing operation , '' Army Maj. Tim James , spokesman for ISAF 's joint command , told CNN by telephone from Afghanistan . The man was arrested along with two others described as `` associates , '' according to ISAF , during a raid Wednesday in the northern province of Balkh , an insurgent stronghold that borders Uzbekistan . The arrest follows another a day earlier in the same area of a suspected al Qaeda-linked militant believed responsible for last week 's suicide attack at a provincial governor 's office that killed an Afghan police commander and wounded a German general , according to an ISAF operational update posted on its website . The operation comes a month after U.S. commandos killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid in Abbottabad , Pakistan . In a statement posted on its website , ISAF released few details about Wednesday 's arrest , saying only that it is `` suspected he was with bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2001 . '' He was captured during an overnight operation after he was tracked to a compound in Nahr-e Shahi , the statement said .
Coalition officials decline to identify the man , saying only he was bin Laden associate . The man is believed to have been with bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2001 . Official : 'It 's part of an ongoing operation ' The arrest comes a month after bin Laden was killed by U.S. commandos .