American and Pakistani officials said today they have captured the top military commander of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is reported to have been captured in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Thursday last week.

Officials say the detention of Baradar is the most significant capture of a Taliban leader in several years.

They hope it will at least temporarily weaken the Taliban’s insurgency in Afghanistan where an American-led NATO offensive is trying to dislodge the militants from a stronghold in southern Helmand province.

However, a Taliban spokesman today denied that Baradar has been captured and said he is free and commanding militants in Afghanistan.


Few details of the capture of Baradar are available. But it appears to have been the result of a joint operation by Pakistan’s military spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, and Washington’s Central Intelligence Agency.


This in itself is a significant development. For years American and other western officials have accused Pakistan’s ISI of failing to pursue a vigorous campaign against the Afghan Taliban and even of protecting and feeding intelligence information to the militants.


But although the capture of Baradar is a significant morale boost for western troops fighting in Afghanistan, there is little expectation among officials that it will seriously undermine the Taliban, who have shown great resilience and the capacity to adapt their organisation.


Baradar is said by officials to be the most significant Taliban leader captured since Mullah Obaidullah Akhund was detained almost three years ago.

Both these men held senior positions on the 10-member Taliban leadership council headed by Mullah Omar, the key friend of Osama bin Laden who allowed Afghanistan to become a haven for the al-Qaida terrorist network.


After Obaidullah was captured in the Pakistani city of Quetta in 2007, Baradar emerged as the commander of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.


It is unclear at the moment whether Baradar is providing any useful information to his captors or if his detention will encourage other, more moderate Taliban leaders to accept Afghan government offers of joining a negotiated end to the insurgency. This is Jonathan Manthorpe in Vancouver. evelopment. For years American and other western officials have accused Pakistan’s ISI of failing to pursue a vigorous campaign against the Afghan Taliban and even of protecting and feeding intelligence information to the militants.


But although the capture of Baradar is a significant morale boost for western troops fighting in Afghanistan, there is little expectation among officials that it will seriously undermine the Taliban, who have shown great resilience and the capacity to adapt their organisation.

Baradar is said by officials to be the most significant Taliban leader captured since Mullah Obaidullah Akhund was detained almost three years ago.


Both these men held senior positions on the 10-member Taliban leadership council headed by Mullah Omar, the key friend of Osama bin Laden who allowed Afghanistan to become a haven for the al-Qaida terrorist network.


After Obaidullah was captured in the Pakistani city of Quetta in 2007, Baradar emerged as the commander of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.


It is unclear at the moment whether Baradar is providing any useful information to his captors or if his detention will encourage other, more moderate Taliban leaders to accept Afghan government offers of joining a negotiated end to the insurgency.