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Strange things are afoot at the Circle K. The arrests of more than a dozen Taliban leaders, including known associates of Osama bin Laden, came as militants fought to keep a grip on their southern stronghold of Marjah…Some of those apprehended included key figures in the Afghan insurgency, while others are members of militant groups that operate just across the border in Pakistan.Among those arrested were Ameer Muawiya, a bin Laden associate who was in charge of foreign al-Qaida militants in Pakistan’s border areas, and Akhunzada Popalzai, also known as Mohammad Younis, a one-time Taliban shadow governor in Zabul province...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The capture and interrogation of Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar could help unravel the Afghan insurgency, but it's less likely to lead U.S. forces to Osama bin Laden. In nearly two weeks of interrogation in Pakistan, the Taliban operations chief has provided limited information, officials said. In his discussions with his Pakistani captors, Baradar has focused on his own fate and not provided full details about the location of fellow insurgents or weapons caches.

The New York Times has the scoop on the capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Afghan Taliban's deputy commander. According to the Times, Baradar's capture was "a lucky accident": When Pakistani security officers raided a house outside Karachi in late January, they had no idea that they had just made their most important capture in years. American intelligence agencies had intercepted communications saying militants with a possible link to the Afghan Taliban’s top military commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, were meeting. Tipped off by the Americans, Pakistani counterterrorist officers took several men into custody, meeting no resistance. Only after...

The capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar -- the Taliban's equivalent of Gen. Stan McChrystal -- by Pakistani agents and CIA operatives is a big win. Subordinate only to Mullah Omar, the Taliban's CEO, Baradar ran the Taliban's military operations in Afghanistan. Responsible for the upgrade in insurgent tactics -- fighting smart, rather than just fighting -- he also created the Taliban's hearts-and-minds campaign. For two weeks, he's been under interrogation by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency. The CIA's also involved in the questioning on some level -- but the ISI always holds back some chips.

The White House and the Pakistani military are confirming that top Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is in custody. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called the joint U.S.-Pakistan operation that captured him in Karachi several days ago "a big success for our mutual efforts in the region." He declined to discuss details about Baradar's ongoing interrogation, but said his capture is a sign of increased cooperation in the region. Pakistan's military confirmed Baradar's capture earlier Wednesday. Baradar, an Afghan national, holds the second most important position within the Taliban, after only the group's founder, Mullah Muhammad Omar.

Two Taliban commanders based in southern Afghanistan have confirmed that the group's second in command has been captured, but claimed he was detained during the Coalition offensive in Helmand province and not in Karachi. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Afghan Taliban's operational commander and the top deputy to Mullah Omar, was reported yesterday to have been arrested by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency several days ago in Pakistan's port city of Karachi. Baradar has been a longtime leader in the Afghan Taliban and a close confidant of Mullah Mohammad Omar, the spiritual leader of the group. He is said to direct...

A coup not only on its own terms — this guy supposedly ran the Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s leadership council, so it’s a major intelligence windfall — but in what it portends about Pakistan’s posture towards the Taliban. 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....

US and Pakistani spies have captured the Taliban's top military commander, US media reported, but the militia has denied his arrest and said he was still leading the fight in Afghanistan. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested in Pakistan's sprawling port city of Karachi "several days ago" by US and Pakistani intelligence services, the New York Times and other US media said, citing unnamed US government officials. If confirmed, the arrest would be a huge blow for the Taliban, which have been fighting to bring down the Afghan government and evict Western troops since the 2001 US-led invasion removed them...

WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban’s top military commander was captured in Pakistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials said on Tuesday, but the move may not deal a decisive blow to a group putting up fierce resistance to a NATO offensive in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban denied that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was captured in a joint raid by Pakistani and U.S. spy agencies.Washington hopes Mullah Baradar’s capture will at least temporarily weaken the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan, where U.S. Marines are leading one of NATO’s biggest offensives of the 8-year war in the southern militant stronghold of Marjah. “I would call...

U.S. intelligence officials appear to have obtained access to what could turn out to be a significant trove of phone numbers, photographs and documents detailing the links between Al Qaeda's leaders in northwest Pakistan and the terror group's increasingly menacing affiliate in Yemen, two counter-terrorism sources tell Declassified. In late January, an Al Qaeda operative headed from Pakistan on his way to Yemen was arrested in the Persian Gulf country of Oman, a U.S. counter-terrorism official confirmed. There has been no public announcement of the arrest. But in a possible indication of the operative's importance, just a few days later,...

WASHINGTON – The Taliban's top military commander has been captured in Pakistan in a joint operation by Pakistani and U.S. intelligence forces, The New York Times reported. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, described as the No. 2 behind Taliban founder and Osama bin Laden associate Mullah Muhammad Omar, has been in Pakistan's custody for several days, ... Baradar was captured in Karachi, Pakistan, in a raid by Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, with CIA operatives accompanying the Pakistanis, the Times reported. Pakistan has been leading the interrogation of Baradar, but Americans were also involved, it said. ... If confirmed, Baradar's arrest...

Secret Joint Raid Captures Taliban’s Top Commander By MARK MAZZETTI and DEXTER FILKINS WASHINGTON — 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...