Mullah Omar security chief captured in Afghanistan

AFGHAN security forces have captured Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar’s personal security chief as he travelled in a van to the southern city of Kandahar, provincial officials said yesterday.

The capture of Toor Mullah Naqibullah Khan, who headed Mullah Omar’s household security, could help US and Afghan forces track down his boss, one of the most wanted fugitives in the US-led war on terror.

Osama bin Laden, who ran his al-Qaida network in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban, is also believed to be at large in the region.

“We have arrested top Taliban figures Toor Mullah Naqibullah Khan and Mullah Qayoom Angar on the way between Arghandab and Kandahar.

“They were carrying a satellite telephone and some important documents,” said a senior Kandahar security official, who requested anonymity.

The official said eight more Taliban fighters were arrested in Kandahar after the two men were caught, unarmed, on Monday. A cache of bombs was also seized.

Khalid Pashtun, spokes- man for the provincial government, confirmed the arrests. With the latest arrests, security forces have picked up at least 27 militants since Saturday night, including the brother of a former Taliban governor of Kandahar.

Mullah Omar’s Taliban militia have been waging an insurgency in the south and south-east of Afghanistan since they were driven from power in late 2001 by US and Afghan forces after al-Qaida attacked the US on September 11.

The Taliban’s most senior military commander played down the significance of the arrests.

“Maybe they are ordinary Taliban,” Mullah Dadullah, one of the movement’s 10-member leadership council, said by satellite telephone. But Mr Pashtun said Naqibullah Khan was a dangerous killer who was still in charge of security for Mullah Omar.

“During the October presidential election this man killed nine government intelligence agents in the Meyansheen district of Kandahar,” he said.

The commander of US- led forces in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General David Barno, said last week’s intelligence showed the Taliban in turmoil over whether to give up their fight and accept an offer of reconciliation from President Hamid Karzai.

Mr Karzai, who won a strong mandate in the country’s first presidential election on October 9, has offered to let Taliban fighters resume a peaceful life.

“We see indications there are arguments among the leadership about whether it’s time to accept reconciliation with the Afghan government,” Lt Barno said.

There are about 18,000 US-led troops in Afghanistan helping Afghan security forces hunt down Taliban guerrillas and some rare al-Qaida remnants still in the country.