Taliban’s top military commander captured in Karachi

* New York Times says Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrested in joint CIA-ISI operation several days ago


* Baradar currently being interrogated by Pakistani, US officials




WASHINGTON: US and Pakistani spies have captured the Taliban's top military commander, the US media reported, but the group on Tuesday denied his arrest, and said he was still leading the fight in Afghanistan.




Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar - was arrested in Karachi "several days ago" by US and Pakistani intelligence services, said the New York Times and other US media, citing unnamed US government officials.




Confirming the report, the Reuters news agency quoted a US official as saying that the Taliban's top military commander had been captured in Pakistan in a joint raid.




"I would call it significant," said another US official of Mullah Baradar's capture. "But even when you get their leaders, they've shown an amazing resilience to bounce back. It's an adaptive organisation." Both US officials spoke on condition of anonymity.




The details of Baradar's apparent capture were unclear, but the New York Times said the Taliban commander was arrested by operatives from ISI and America's Central Intelligence Agency.




US TV channel ABC also quoted a senior official as saying that Baradar was captured several days ago, and called the arrest "a very big deal".




"If he were taken off the battlefield, it would deal a major setback to the Afghan Taliban and be a personal blow to Mullah Omar, who has relied heavily on him for years," another unnamed counter-terrorism official told the station.




The New York Times billed Afghan-born Baradar as top lieutenant to Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and said he was currently being interrogated by Pakistani and US officials.




One Pakistani officer said Baradar was arrested 10 days ago with the assistance of the US and "was talking" to his interrogators.




Officials from the Pakistani military were not available for comment. The US embassy in Islamabad and senior policemen in Karachi said they had no information.




Baradar is in charge of the Taliban's military operations and leadership council, and was a close associate of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden before the September 11, 2001, attacks, said the New York Times.




Pakistani expert on the Taliban Rahimullah Yusufzai expressed some doubt about the US reports, saying members of the group could operate under different names.




"If confirmed, his arrest would be a psychological, political and symbolic setback for the Taliban. But it will not end the war, nor will the Taliban lay down their arms," he told AFP.




Senator John Kerry - chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - said on Tuesday during a visit to Islamabad that the arrest was evidence of greater cooperation between the US and Pakistan. "I think that is really a signal that wherever people go, wherever they are, the government of Pakistan is determined to continue to ferret out those people who engage in violent extremist acts," said Kerry.




The Pentagon declined to openly discuss the commander's reported arrest. "I can neither confirm nor deny" Baradar's capture, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.




An Interpol profile said 42-year-old Baradar was a senior Taliban military commander subject to tough UN sanctions, and gave his location as the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The profile also says that Baradar was the deputy defence minister in the Taliban regime that ruled Afghanistan until it was ousted in the 2001 US-led invasion. afp