KABUL, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Police have smashed a seven-member gang of burglars and taken them into custody in the southern Afghanistan Kandahar province, provincial police spokesman Mullah Assadullah Jamshid said Friday.

The outlaws were arrested Thursday, the official said, adding that police recovered eight motorbikes, an assault rifle of AK-47 type, and a pistol from the possession of the gang's members.

All the arrested individuals have confessed to their crimes, the official said, adding that police would hand them over to the judiciary bodies after completion of preliminary investigations.

Previously, police in similar operations gunned down four armed robbers in the northern Jawzjan province a week ago.