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Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban's Top Commander
The Taliban's top military commander was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan, in a secret joint operation by Pakistani and American intelligence forces, according to American government officials.The commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, is an Afghan described by American officials as the most significant Taliban figure to be detained since the American-led war in Afghanistan started more than eight years ago. He ranks second in influence only to Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's founder, and was a close associate of Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks. Mullah Baradar has been in Pakistani custody for several days, with American and Pakistani intelligence officials both taking part in interrogations, according to the officials. It was unclear whether he was talking, but the officials said his capture had provided a window into the Taliban and could lead to other senior officials. Most immediately, they hope he will provide the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, the one-eyed cleric who is the group's spiritual leader. Disclosure of Mullah Baradar's capture came as American and Afghan forces were in the midst of a major offensive in southern Afghanistan. His capture could cripple the Taliban's military operations, at least in the short term, said Bruce O. Riedel, a C.I.A. veteran who last spring led the Obama administration's Afghanistan and Pakistan policy review. Details of the raid remain murky, but officials said that it had been carried out by Pakistan's military spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, and that C.I.A. operatives had accompanied the Pakistanis. The New York Times learned of the operation on Thursday, but delayed reporting it at the request of White House officials, who contended that making it public would end a hugely successful intelligence-gathering effort. The officials said that the group's leaders had been unaware of Mullah Baradar's capture and that if it became public they might cover their tracks and become more careful about communicating with each other. The Times is publishing the news now because White House officials acknowledged that the capture of Mullah Baradar was becoming widely known in the region. Several American government officials gave details about the raid on the condition that they not be named, because the operation was classified. American officials believe that besides running the Taliban's military operations, Mullah Baradar runs the group's leadership council, often called the Quetta Shura because its leaders for years have been thought to be hiding near Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan Province in Pakistan. The participation of Pakistan's spy service could suggest a new level of cooperation from Pakistan's leaders, who have been ambivalent about American efforts to crush the Taliban. Increasingly, the Americans say, senior leaders in Pakistan, including the chief of its army, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, have gradually come around to the view that they can no longer support the Taliban in Afghanistan as they have quietly done for years without endangering themselves. Indeed, American officials have speculated that Pakistani security officials could have picked up Mullah Baradar long ago. The officials said that Pakistan was leading the interrogation of Mullah Baradar, but that Americans were also involved. The conditions of the questioning are unclear. In its first week in office, the Obama administration banned harsh interrogations like waterboarding by Americans, but the Pakistanis have long been known to subject prisoners to brutal questioning. American intelligence officials believe that elements within Pakistan's security services have covertly supported the Taliban with money and logistical help largely out of a desire to retain some ally inside Afghanistan for the inevitable day when the Americans leave. The ability of the Taliban's top leaders to operate relatively freely inside Pakistan has for years been a source of friction between the ISI and the C.I.A. Americans have complained that they have given ISI operatives the precise locations of Taliban leaders, but that the Pakistanis usually refuse to act. The Pakistanis have countered that the American intelligence was often outdated, or that faulty information had been fed to the United States by Afghanistan's intelligence service. For the moment it is unclear how the capture of Mullah Baradar will affect the overall direction of the Taliban, who have so far refused to disavow Al Qaeda and to accept the Afghan Constitution. American officials have hoped to win over some midlevel members of the group. Mr. Riedel, the former C.I.A. official, said that he had not heard about Mullah Baradar's capture before being contacted by The Times, but that the raid constituted a sea change in Pakistani behavior.' In recent weeks, American officials have said they have seen indications that the Pakistani military and spy services may finally have begun to distance themselves from the Taliban. One Obama administration official said Monday that the White House had no reason to think that anybody was double-dealing at all' in aiding in the capture of Mullah Baradar. Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-02-16 |
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