PBS NewsHour
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"Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban’s Top Commander" by MARK MAZZETTI and DEXTER FILKINS, New York Times 2/15/2010
Excerpt
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.
Disclosure of Mullah Baradar’s capture came as American and Afghan forces were in the midst of a major offensive in southern Afghanistan.
His capture could cripple the Taliban’s military operations, at least in the short term, said Bruce O. Riedel, a former C.I.A. officer who last spring led the Obama administration’s Afghanistan and Pakistan policy review.
Details of the raid remain murky, but officials said that it had been carried out by Pakistan’s military spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, and that C.I.A. operatives had accompanied the Pakistanis.
The New York Times learned of the operation on Thursday, but delayed reporting it at the request of White House officials, who contended that making it public would end a hugely successful intelligence-gathering effort. The officials said that the group’s leaders had been unaware of Mullah Baradar’s capture and that if it became public they might cover their tracks and become more careful about communicating with each other.
Thank you New York Times for responsible reporting decision.
"Q+A: What Taliban commander Baradar's capture means" by Chris Allbritton, Reuters 2/16/2010
Excerpt
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is the most significant Taliban figure captured since the start of the Afghan war. The New York Times said he had been in Pakistani custody for several days and was being interrogated by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence.
Questions in the article:
- WHY NOW?
- WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE FIGHTING IN AFGHANISTAN?
- A NEW DIRECTION FOR U.S.-PAKISTANI COOPERATION?
- WHAT DOMESTIC FALLOUT IN PAKISTAN?
Read full article for answers.
"Pakistan: Detained Taliban Chief Talking" CBS News 2/17/2010
UPDATE:
"In Pakistan Raid, Taliban Chief Was an Extra Prize" by SCOTT SHANE and ERIC SCHMITT, New York Times 2/18/2010
Excerpt
Only after a careful process of identification did Pakistani and American officials realize they had captured Mullah Baradar himself, the man who had long overseen the Taliban insurgency against American, NATO and Afghan troops in Afghanistan.
New details of the raid indicate that the arrest of the No. 2 Taliban leader was not necessarily the result of a new determination by Pakistan to go after the Taliban, or a bid to improve its strategic position in the region. Rather, it may be something more prosaic: “a lucky accident,” as one American official called it. “No one knew what they were getting,” he said.
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