[Al Arabiya Latest] Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, said to be the Taliban second-in-command, whose removal could deal a heavy blow to the militia's eight-year war in Afghanistan.The military released a short statement confirming Baradar had been arrested, but made no mention of U.S. reports that he was captured several days ago in Pakistan's financial capital Karachi in a joint operation with U.S. spies. "At the conclusion of detailed identification procedure, it has been confirmed that one of the persons arrested happens to be Mullah Baradar," said military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas. "Place of arrest and operational details cannot be released due to security reasons," he added. Speaking to AFP, Abbas declined to say more.
Analysts have said his arrest could signal a watershed in Washington's bid to persuade Pakistan to move aggressively against Islamist militants operating on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Confirmation of Baradar's detention came just hours before U.S. President Barack Obama was to meet his war cabinet to discuss Afghanistan and a major offensive on a key Taliban bastion that has run into stiff resistance. Obama was to meet in the White House's Situation Room with Vice President Joe Biden, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, and top officials. General Stanley McChrystal, the senior U.S. commander in Afghanistan, and Karl Eikenberry, the U.S. ambassador to Kabul, were to join the meeting via video conference, the White House said.
Fox is reporting that a Taliban shadow provincial governor has been nabbed in Faisalabad. No details on that one yet.