Posted on 03/04/2007 12:50:33 AM PST by HAL9000
Taliban concede capture of Obaidullah, at last
Major setback for Taliban; Mulla Omar’s whereabouts unknown
DUBAI: Though the Taliban initially denied the arrest of their former defence minister Mulla Obaidullah Akhund in Quetta, one of their important military commanders and a few other officials are now reluctantly admitting that the news of his capture appears to be true.
Requesting anonymity, the Taliban military commander told 'The News' that he was now 80 per cent convinced that Mulla Obaidullah has indeed been arrested. Speaking from an unknown location, he said he was earlier unable and unwilling to believe that one of their top military leaders has been netted.
"One indication that the reports of his arrest are true is the fact that most of our military commanders and spokesmen have turned off their satellite phones. This has happened in the past also whenever someone important among the Taliban was captured," he explained.
This Taliban commander has proved reliable in the past. He had confirmed the death of top Taliban military commander Mulla Akhtar Mohammad Usmani in a US and Nato airstrike in Helmand province in December last year at a time when Taliban spokesmen were vehemently denying the claim by Western forces about the target killing of one of the most wanted men in Afghanistan. Subsequently, the Taliban reluctantly confirmed Usmani's death.
Talking to 'The News', certain low-ranking Taliban officials said they are gradually coming around to believe the news about Mulla Obaidullah's arrest. "There is gloom in our ranks. Our Taliban comrades everywhere are sad. It would take some time to overcome the shock of the arrest," a Taliban official remarked.
The Taliban members said switching off of phones by their senior military commanders and spokesmen always brought bad news. They said this is a sign that something has gone wrong for the Taliban and before long their apprehensions turn out to be true.
One other reason for switching off phones is o evade arrest. Taliban know that their captured colleagues would be investigated and even tortured by those taking them into custody to glean information about the whereabouts of important Taliban leaders and military commanders. After such high-profile arrests, important Taliban figures also try to change their satellite and other phones and change their place of hiding. This has helped them to avoid capture.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousaf Ahmadi earlier claimed Mulla Obaidullah hasn't been arrested. He insisted their former defence minister was in Afghanistan and leading Taliban fighters in battles against the US-led foreign occupying forces.
It was also suggested by certain Taliban quarters that another man named Obaidullah rather than Mulla Obaidullah was arrested in Quetta. A few reporters were also told that a videotape of Mulla Obaidullah would be made available to prove that he was still a free man. But it wasn't said when the tape would become available. In the past, the Taliban were not able to deliver on their promise to provide tapes of some of their major military operations. The largely resourceless Taliban have also been unable on certain occasions to provide timely footage of kidnapped foreigners.
Taliban sources said Mulla Obaidullah's arrest appears to have been made on the basis of information that had come from US military authorities in Kandahar. They said Pakistani authorities acted on this information and organised a raid to capture Mulla Obaidullah.
However, Pakistani security officials have been telling reporters that the raid to net Mulla Obaidullah was carried out by members of law-enforcing forces and intelligence agencies. They gave no hint that the US military and secret services provided intelligence or other inputs that led to Mulla Obaidullah's arrest.
The Pakistan government hasn't officially and publicly confirmed the arrest of Mulla Obaidullah and certain other Taliban figures. Two Pakistani security officials without disclosing their identity have, however, confirmed the arrests. Interestingly, the security and police officers in Quetta have been saying they were unaware of the arrests. It seems the raid was carried out by military intelligence agencies without taking the law-enforcing agencies in Balochistan into confidence.
Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao earlier told 'The News' that five people had been arrested in Quetta. When asked if among them was a top Taliban leader, he said those arrested appeared to be fairly important. When specifically asked about Mulla Obaidullah's arrest, Sherpao said he could not confirm this piece of information. "We are still carrying out investigations. We cannot say anything about the identity of the arrested men," he added.
Meanwhile, Taliban sources opined that Mulla Obaidullah's arrest came after the earlier capture of another of their commander and former governor of Zabul province, Amir Khan Haqqani, and one low-ranked fighter named Sarhadi. They claimed the five men including Mulla Obaidullah were apparently arrested in two different raids in Quetta with a gap of a few days. They also said Mulla Obaidullah was kept separately from the other captured Taliban members after his arrest.
There were also reports that a brother of slain Taliban military commander, Akhtar Mohammad Usmani, was also among those arrested in Quetta. Name of one Abdul Bari was also mentioned as one of the captured Taliban figures.
Earlier, there were rumours that senior Taliban commanders and former minister Mulla Jalaluddin Haqqani too has been captured in the Quetta raids. But it turned out later that Mulla Amir Khan Haqqani instead of Jalaluddin Haqqani had been arrested.
There are hundreds of Haqqanis among the Taliban because anyone having studied at the Darul Uloom Haqqania, one of the largest madris in Pakistan, at Akora Khattak in Nowshera district in the NWFP writes Haqqani with his name. In that sense, Mulla Obaidullah's capture would be a huge setback for the Taliban and could disrupt their military operations for sometime, particularly at this stage when the Taliban are preparing for their Spring Offensive in Afghanistan. But the Taliban like al-Qaeda has in the past adapted quickly to such adverse situations and named replacements to captured or killed Taliban operatives.
Insalallah, God is obviously on the infidels side.
Never heard of the guy, but one less Terrorist is nice...
"....is the fact that most of our military commanders and spokesmen have turned off their satellite phones."
There you go you Democrat Traitors...more damn fruits of your efforts.
He is big....very big my friend. ...he gives you an opening to senior AQ. matter of fact a raid was launched after this capture in a place in Kunar to nab an AQ senior leader(think Zawahiri)...I would bet the intel to mount the raid came from him.
Guess they didn't want to be the next Nek Mohammad....:-)
This doesn't sound like a movement that is gaining ground and is going to wrap up the Karzai government in the spring.
Mullah Bullah Obaidullah! These names are probably made up by a rap lyrics writer. ;-)
I hope they are torturing his sorry ass.
Check out Roggio's blog http://billroggio.com/ March 3 Story......something big is going on....could be interesting
Heck, the capture was on TV just the other evening. Don't these guys watch "The Unit?"
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