Taliban chief Abdul Ghani Baradar captured in Pakistan

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the overall commander of the Taliban’s Afghan insurgency, has been captured by American and Pakistani forces in a secret joint operation in Karachi.

The arrest of Mullah Baradar, who directs Taliban military strategy in their fight against NATO and Afghan government forces, is a significant blow to the insurgency as it faces its biggest offensive yet in Helmand.

Senior Pakistan military sources confirmed his arrest last week and said he is currently being interrogated at a secret location by both Pakistani and American intelligence officials.

Mullah Baradar is the most senior Taliban leader captured to date, and his arrest marks not only a propaganda coup for NATO forces but also a turning point in co-operation between the NATO allies and Pakistan. Until now Pakistan’s political and military leaders have resisted American pressure to target members of Mullah Omar’s ‘Quetta Shura’ leadership council.

Their reluctance to target the senior Taliban leadership reflects a lack of confidence in Islamabad that the Americans will stay the course in Afghanistan and residual loyalty to their old Taliban allies. Washington became so frustrated last year that it passed the Kerry-Lugar bill making progress in capturing top Taliban leaders a condition for American aid.

Former Pakistan intelligence chief Hamid Gul, today told The Daily Telegraph Mullah Baradar’s arrest was evidence that Islamabad has been sincere in its dealings with the Uninted States. “Mullah Baradar is member of the Taliban Shura and an important member of it. There haven’t been joint operations between Pakistan and the United States, but perhaps this is new ground,” he said.

He said while the capture of Mullah Baradar was significant, he did not believe it would have a major impact on the course of the Taliban insurgency. “There are seconds who can take over. They operate in small bands, they are not monolithic, so their operations will not be affected,” he added.

Mullah Baradar is believed to have briefed local Afghan Taliban commanders on a new military strategy to counter President Obama’s ‘surge’ last July. He is reported to have ordered them to use guerilla warfare tactics to minimize their own casualties, and to avoid getting caught in full-frontal gunfights with NATO forces which have far greater firepower.

Baradar was a close associate of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Confirmation of his capture emerged this morning after the New York Times disclosed he had been arrested last week, but said they had delayed reporting it following a White House request. Officials said it could hamper a successful intelligence gathering effort which they hoped would lead to further senior Taliban arrests. Most immediately, they hope he will provide the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, the one-eyed cleric who is the group's spiritual leader, the paper said.

The newspaper published the story after US officials acknowledged Baradar's capture was becoming widely known in the region.

The Taliban has denied Baradar had been captured and said that the report was nothing more than a rumour.

"He has not been captured. They want to spread this rumour just to divert the attention of people from their defeats in Marjah and confuse the public," Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters, referring to a U.S.-led NATO offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand province.

The White House and CIA declined comment on the report and the Pentagon also had no immediate comment.

Reports of Baradar's capture came as American and Afghan forces were in the midst of a major offensive in southern Afghanistan.

US Marines are leading the 15,000-strong, ground and air offensive dubbed Operation Mushtarak ("Together" in Dari), which US military reported is making slow progress.

President Barack Obama has ordered the deployment of more than 50,000 US troops to Afghanistan since taking office in January 2009, with the final reinforcements due to bring to 150,000 the total number of US and NATO-led troops in the country by August.