Number 3 Taliban Leader Arrested In Pakistan
A J Strata
OK, for those skeptical about Pakistan’s backbone regarding the Islamo Fascists they just arrested the number 3 Taliban leader:
Pakistani security forces have captured a high-ranking Taliban leader in the southwestern city of Quetta, a senior Pakistani security official and Taliban sources said on Thursday.
The capture of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund marked the first time Pakistan had arrested a senior leader of the Islamist militia since it was driven from power in Afghanistan in 2001, and thousands of its fighters fled into Pakistan. ...
... This will definitely be a test of Pakistani and Musharaaf resolve. There will be a backlash. So we will know soon enough if Islamabad is serious about the war on terror. ...
Report: Pakistan arrests Taliban’s #3
Allahpundit
Some Pakistani officials are denying it, but even Taliban sources tell Reuters it’s true. It’s the first big pinch of a senior Talib commander since the invasion of Afghanistan. How big? The Blotter:
Pakistani officials identified one of the men as Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, considered the third in command of the Taliban…
“His arrest would be huge, if confirmed,” said Barnett Rubin, a New York University professor who testified today before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the resurgence of the Taliban in Pakistan…
Intelligence sources said Akhund may know the secret whereabouts of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and perhaps of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahri.
Guess where he was arrested. Right, in Quetta — the same city where, according to a captured Taliban spokesman, Mullah Omar is hiding out with the protection of Pakistan’s CIA and the same city that’s been rumored for years to be a Taliban stronghold, despite vehement denials by Pakistani officials. I guess Cheney made his point, huh?
The Counterterrorism Blog has good background on this turd. Once upon a time he was Afghanistan’s defense minister under the Taliban regime; he surrendered to the Northern Alliance shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2001 — and then was promptly released as part of an “amnesty deal,” despite the fact that he was “considered by American intelligence officials to have been one of the Taliban leaders closest to Mr. bin Laden.” He appears to have spent most of the last few years waging jihad and dialing up news agencies to call Hamid Karzai a puppet. Presumably he’s on his way to the waterboard now.
Before we ask him about Osama, maybe we should ask him about this guy. He’s been awfully chatty lately. ...
