Arrested or not arrested, that’s the question by Barbora Misakova

US media reported that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s top commander, was detained. This Taliban’s spiritual leader is in hiding since the 9/11 attacks in 2001 as he was a close associate of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It is also said he is a member of leadership council – the movement’s top body which makes the most important decisions. As 42-year-old Baradar was a senior Taliban military commander he was just like other Taliban leaders a subject to UN Security Council sanctions such as freezing of assets, a travel ban and others. According to unnamed US government officials Baradar was arrested in Pakistan’s sprawling port city! of Karachi. However the Taliban have denied these reports and said Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is “currently in Afghanistan, where he is leading all jihadi activities.” Taliban blames US officials for trying to deflect attention from resistance of Taliban fighters. So where is the truth and who is actually lying? The arrest of Baradar would demoralize the enemy and affect Taliban’s military operations. Rahimullah Yusufzai, of the Pakistani newspaper The News said that Baradar “was among the four people who founded the movement and we haven’t heard about him for a long time. They will replace him but that person will not have the same status.” So is it really USA who tries to deflect the attention or is it Taliban? Without regard to truth of Baradar’s capture, we have become witnesses of psychological war. While for the US military it would be a proof of their progress in Afghanistan, for Taliban it could be just another way how to c! atch the world’s attention.

related story (sgx164 85): http://www.france24.com/en/20100216-taliban-commander-mullah...

by Barbora Misakova for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

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