Taliban's military chief 'captured in Pakistan'

The Taliban’s top military commander has been captured in Pakistan, it was reported today.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar had been in Pakistani custody for several days, the New York Times said on its website, quoting US government sources.

Baradar was captured in Karachi in a raid by Pakistan’s Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the Times said.

Pakistan had been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans were also involved, it said.

But a spokesman for the Taliban in Afghanistan said today Baradar was still free, though he did not provide any evidence.

“We totally deny this rumour. He has not been arrested,” Zabiullah Mujahid said. He said the report of the arrest was Western propaganda aimed at undercutting the Taliban fighting against the offensive in Marjah.

“The Taliban are having success with our jihad. It is to try to demoralise the Taliban who are on jihad in Marjah and all of Afghanistan,” he said.

The Times said it learned of the operation last Thursday but delayed reporting it at the request of White House officials who argued that publicising it would end a valuable intelligence-gathering effort by making Baradar’s associates aware of his capture.

The paper said it decided to publish the news after White House officials acknowledged Baradar’s capture was becoming widely known in the region.

Word of Baradar’s capture came as US Marine and Afghan units pressed deeper into the Taliban haven of Marjah in southern Afghanistan, facing sporadic rocket and mortar fire as they moved through suspected insurgent neighbourhoods on the third day of a Nato offensive to reclaim the town.

The Times described Baradar as the number two behind Taliban founder and Osama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Baradar has been running the battlefield command for the Taliban since the 2006 death of Taliban military chief Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani.

Baradar is known to coordinate the Taliban's military operations throughout the south and south west of Afghanistan. His area of direct responsibility stretches over Kandahar, Helmand, Nimroz, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.

If confirmed, Baradar’s arrest would be a major setback for the Taliban.

He may also have information on the whereabouts of Omar and bin Laden.