Afghan intelligence agents say they have arrested a leading spokesman for the Taleban near the Pakistan border. Intelligence service spokesman Sayed Ansari named him as Dr Muhammad Hanif, who has been speaking for Afghanistan's former rulers since October 2005. Mr Ansari told the Associated Press the spokesman had been detained on Monday. He did not say where he is being held. Dr Hanif's capture, if confirmed, would be a notable success for the Afghan government as it battles the Taleban. 'Confessed'
Mr Ansari said Dr Hanif had been detained in the border town of Towr Kham in Nangarhar province soon after entering Afghanistan from Pakistan. "We had prior information about his coming to Afghanistan and our security forces arrested him along with two other people" (said) Sayed Ansari, Intelligence service. The spokesman first gave his name as Abdulhaq Haqiq, Mr Ansari said. "But during the investigations we discovered that he is Dr Hanif," he told AP. "He also confessed to it himself."
| "Right after we used the PA system to call for Truncheon Team Gamma, he just started babbling. It was uncanny, really." |