Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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February 11, 2008

Pakistan: Top Taliban Commander Captured
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1B36A74:A6F02AD83191E16018A361237182576FB3350E090FE6A6E8& Officials say
Mansoor Dadullah and  Taliban militants were caught when entering
Pakistan Pakistani security forces say they have captured and wounded
a prominent Taliban commander and five other militants after a
shootout near the border with Afghanistan. VOA Correspondent Meredith
Buel has details from Islamabad.







Mullah Mansoor Dadullah talks during an interview at an unknown place
(undated TV Grab taken from Aljazeera channel)Pakistan Army spokesman
Major General Athar Abbas told VOA Mullah Mansoor Dadullah along with
the other Taliban militants were caught entering Pakistan from
Afghanistan at paramilitary check post in the southwestern province of
Baluchistan.

"They were challenged and thereafter a firefight took place between
them. All six of them were injured and then they were apprehended by
the Frontier Corps. Of course they were provided with first aid there
and then they were brought back towards the camp," he said.

Local officials reported a different version of Dadullah's capture.

They say the Taliban militant was hiding in a compound that was raided
by Pakistani security forces.

Mansoor Dadullah is the brother of a former top military commander for
the Taliban, Mullah Dadullah, who was killed in an Afghan and NATO
military operation last May in southern Afghanistan.

There has been growing pressure from Western nations on Pakistan to
crack down on Islamic militants launching attacks inside Afghanistan
and Pakistan.

The arrest came days after a senior U.S. official said that al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar were
operating from inside Pakistan.







Pro-Taliban supporters listen to an audiotaped speech by cleric
Dadullah Mansoor during a rally in Killi Nalai village, near the
Afghan border (File Photo - 01 Jun 2007)

The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mullah
Omar and other commanders were directing the insurgency in Afghanistan
from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan.

Pakistan Army spokesman General Abbas says Dadullah's capture does not
confirm that top Taliban leaders are inside Pakistan.

"We reject that. We think that we are in a good position to know
exactly who is where. We absolutely consider this as baseless and
unfounded news," he said.

Afghan authorities have long said al-Qaida and Taliban leaders receive
refuge in Pakistan's lawless tribal regions.

Many Taliban and al-Qaida militants fled to the Pakistani border areas
after U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban militia's government in late
2001.

Pakistani forces have carried out military operations to clear the
border area of militants, and hundreds of people, including army
troops, have been killed in clashes with insurgents.


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