The senior military commander of the Afghan Taliban has been arrested in Pakistan.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Beradar was arrested in a joint Pakistani-US operation. The arrest is being denied by the Taliban, but has been confirmed by Pakistani officials.
It is hoped that interrogation of Mullah Beradar will yield information leading to the arrest of the founder of the Taliban and its senior leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. Mullah Beradar was close to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before the 9/11 attacks.
Mullah Beradar, who was born in Deh Rawod in the province of Uruzgan, is a member of the same tribe as President Hamid Karzai. Radio Netherlands Worldwide correspondent Bette Dam, who recently wrote a book about President Karzai and Afghanistan, says the president and Mullah Beradar regularly call each other on the phone.
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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