16 February 2010

Taliban #2 Busted

With a little Pakistani help, they've captured Mullah Baradar, the alleged military commander of the Taliban.

The Taliban’s top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.

The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban’s founder and a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, according to the officials.

It was unclear whether he was talking, but the officials said his capture had provided a window into the Taliban and could lead to other senior officials. Most immediately, they hope he will provide the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, the one-eyed cleric who is the group’s spiritual leader.

Of course, it was with Pakistan's cooperation that he was free in the first place.

By: Brant


Pete Maidhof said...

Wasn't there a #2 claimed by the west to have been killed about a week ago, yet taliban denied the claim? Is this the same guy?

Brant said...

No, there was a guy who was a #2 in the local area. This guy was Omar's right-hand-man who was the military commander. More importantly, though, is that nabbing him exposed the existence of an infrastructure in Pakistan that the ISI had denied even existed.