Pakistan confirms arrest of top Taliban leader
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Islamabad, Feb 18, IRNA -- Pakistan's Army Wednesday confirmed arrest of top Taliban Commander, Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Mulla Baradar, deputy to Taliban chief Mullah Muhammad Omar, was arrested in Karachi several days ago by the US and Pakistani intelligence services and was being interrogated, the sources said.
“At the conclusion of detailed identification process, it is confirmed that one of the persons arrested happens to be Mullah Baradar,” The New York Times and other media said, citing unnamed officials in both countries.
“Place of arrest & operational details can not be released due to security reason,” an Army statement said.
Mulla Baradar was a close friend of Mulla Omar and both are of the same age group. He was among some 30 people considered founders of the Taliban movement, Afghan affairs experts say.
When the Taliban rose to power in 1996, Baradar’s ties with Omar helped secure him the position of deputy defence minister, before the Taliban regime was toppled by the US-led invasion in 2001 for sheltering Al-Qaeda.
Officilas said that Mullah Baradar was arrested from a seminary in the outskirts of Karachi. They said that Baradar came out of the seminary and was arrested by the Pakistani and American intelligence agents as they sat in a vehicle.
Afghan Taliban denied Baradar’s capture and accused the U.S officials of trying to deflect attention from resistance they are facing in Marjah in Helmand.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 965866
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