Karachi, Feb 17, (THAINDIAN NEWS) According to officials, the top military commander of the Taliban was captured and arrested in Pakistan, during an operation involving the CIA and Pakistanis in a joint operation.

Number two man behind Mullah Mohammed Omar, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar , is a close friend of Osama bin Laden. He was captured in Karachi, which is a port city in southern Pakistan. Two Pakistani officials, and a Senior United States Official reported all of this anonymously, however Major General Athar Abbas, chief army spokesman openly announced in a message to reporters,” After the conclusion of detailed identification procedures, it has been confirmed that one of the persons arrested happens to be Mullah Baradar.” He could not give the exact place of arrest for security reasons, but said that Baradar was captured while “going about his daily life.”

This is a major success for the administration of the United States, after it has been vowed that the U.S. would kill or capture every Taliban or al-Qaida leader in Pakistan and Afghanistan.This particular capture is viewed as a huge victory against insurgents. It comes after CIA missile strikes between Afghanistan and Pakistan against military targets.

It is speculated that the capture maybe due to a new determination from the United States and NATO, to negotiate with moderate Afghan Taliban leaders to end this war, which has lasted eight years.

A United States counter-terrorism official said, ” This is a major terrorist who has been at the core of Taliban operations for years. Having him off of the battlefield means the near-term disruption of plotting against coalition forces in Afghanistasn.” Bradar has more seniority than any Afghan Taliban leader arrested since 2001.